Donut Chain, wishing to increase the profitability of its new store, will place a coupon in the local newspaper offering a free donut with a cup of coffee at its grand opening. Donut Chain calculates that the cost of the advertisement and the free donuts will be more than recouped by the new business generated through the promotion.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the prediction that Donut Chain's promotion will increase the new store's profitability?
A) Donut Chain has a loyal following in much of the country.
B) Donut Chain has found that the vast majority of new visitors to its stores become regular customers.
C) One donut at Donut Chain costs less than a cup of coffee.
D) Most of the copies of the coupon in the local newspaper will not be redeemed for free donuts.
E) Donut Chain's stores are generally very profitable.
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正确答案B
Donut Chain, wishing to increase the profitability of its new store, will place a coupon in the local newspaper offering a free donut with a cup of coffee at its grand opening（DC认为派发免费的Donut可以提高利润）. Donut Chain calculates that the cost of the advertisement and the free donuts will be more than recouped by the new business generated through the promotion（虽然有花费，但DC认为带来的新业务可以弥补）.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the prediction that Donut Chain's promotion will increase the new store's profitability?（问题中是结论，这个计划是否可以刺激DC利润增长？）
A) Donut Chain has a loyal following in much of the country（首先，是一个已成事实，对增长利润没有帮助；还有一个漏洞，much of the country也许不代表所有地方）.
B) Donut Chain has found that the vast majority of new visitors to its stores become regular customers.
C) One donut at Donut Chain costs less than a cup of coffee（和利润没有任何关系）.
D) Most of the copies of the coupon in the local newspaper will not be redeemed for free donuts（对DC的预测起反效果，花钱做了广告，却没有新顾客来，削弱文章结论）.
E) Donut Chain's stores are generally very profitable（文章问的是increase profitability，而且特别问的是这个计划是否能刺激利润增长）.
常见陷阱
逻辑思路相反，问加强给削弱，如上面例题D
和结论没有关系，既不加强，也不削弱。常常是在前提中加入新信息，但没有影响结论，如上面例题E
削弱题
例题
The national infrastructure for airport runways and air traffic control requires immediate expansion to accommodate the increase in private, smaller planes. To help fund this expansion, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has proposed a fee for all air travelers. However, this fee would be unfair, as it would impose costs on all travelers to benefits only the few who utilize the new private planes.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt on the claim that the proposed fee would be unfair?
A) The existing national airport infrastructure benefits all air travelers.
B) The fee, if imposed, will have a negligible impact on the overall volume of air travel.
C) The expansion would reduce the number of delayed flights resulting from small private planes congesting runways.
D) Travelers who use small private planes are almost uniformly wealthy or traveling on business.
E) A substantial fee would need to be imposed in order to pay for the expansion costs.
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正确答案为C
The national infrastructure for airport runways and air traffic control requires immediate expansion to accommodate the increase in private, smaller planes. To help fund this expansion, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has proposed a fee for all air travelers（FAA想收钱扩充机场）. However, this fee would be unfair, as it would impose costs on all travelers to benefits only the few who utilize the new private planes（结论，作者不同意做法，认为大家出钱，少数人得益）.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt on the claim that the proposed fee would be unfair?（要求削弱结论：fee=unfair。注意到作者认为only用私人飞机的人得益）
A) The existing national airport infrastructure benefits all air travelers.（虽然提到对所有人有好处，但文章讨论的不是现有设施）
B) The fee, if imposed, will have a negligible impact on the overall volume of air travel.（plan是计划扩充机场，但这里说没什么影响，didn't address the right thing）
C) The expansion would reduce the number of delayed flights resulting from small private planes congesting runways.（对所有人有好处）
D) Travelers who use small private planes are almost uniformly wealthy or traveling on business.（即使衍生出有钱人可以付更多，也和我们要削弱的论点—不是所有人得益—无关）
E) A substantial fee would need to be imposed in order to pay for the expansion costs.（具体收多少钱和结论无关）
常见陷阱
和加强题一样主要有两种
逻辑方向错误，问削弱给加强
对前提有影响，但不影响结论，如上面例题A选项
相关练习题
Advertising Executive: More than 10 million households now own digital video recorders that can fast-forward over television commercials; approximately 75% of these households fast-forward over at least one commercial per 30-minute program. Because television commercials are not as widely watched as they used to be, they are much less cost-effective today.
Which of the following, if ture, strengthens the claim that television commercials are less cost-effective than they used to be?
A) Product placement within television programs is a viable alternative to traditional television commercials.
B) The television programs preferred by consumers without digital video recorders are similar to those preferred by consumers with the devices.
C) Prior to the advent of digital video recorders, very few television viewers switched channels or left the room when commercials began.
D) The cos-effectiveness of televisin advertising is based less upon how many people watch a particular commercial and more upon the appropriateness of the demographic.
E) Many companies find it difficult to determine the exact return on investment for television commercials.
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正确答案C
Advertising Executive: More than 10 million households now own digital video recorders that can fast-forward over television commercials（一个事实）; approximately 75% of these households fast-forward over at least one commercial per 30-minute program（另一个事实）. Because television commercials are not as widely watched as they used to be, they are much less cost-effective today（结论：较少人看广告，成本效益降低）.
Which of the following, if ture, strengthens the claim that television commercials are less cost-effective than they used to be?（加强题，加强结论：电视广告没有以前成本效益高）
（文章假设：的确以前更多人看广告）
A) Product placement within television programs is a viable alternative to traditional television commercials.（文章不是讨论不同广告该怎么赚钱，对结论没有影响）
B) The television programs preferred by consumers without digital video recorders are similar to those preferred by consumers with the devices.（文章关于广告，而不是人们在看哪个节目）
C) Prior to the advent of digital video recorders, very few television viewers switched channels or left the room when commercials began.（有以前和现在的对比，而且在以前，人们的确没有采取别的跳过广告的方式—换台或者离开）
D) The cos-effectiveness of televisin advertising is based less upon how many people watch a particular commercial and more upon the appropriateness of the demographic.（应该用别的标准来衡量，而不是人数，削弱结论！逻辑方向相反）
E) Many companies find it difficult to determine the exact return on investment for television commercials.（如果为真，轻微削弱结论，表明不能证明没有以前成本效益高）