Arts advocate: Few universities require that students who are specializing in science and technology take many art courses. However, real progress in science and technology requires an element of creativity, which the arts foster. Thus, to help science and technology students succeed in their careers, universities should increase the number of art courses required for them.
Which of the following would, if true, most strengthen the argument above?
A successful coffee stand that serves the workers in a large office building plans to increase its profits by adding oatmeal—a hot cereal popular among the workers—to its menu. The manager says that oatmeal is “the ultimate convenience food” because it can be served by the cup, as coffee is; further, offering oatmeal will enable the stand to get into the breakfast business without making a large investment, because it does not require elaborate cooking equipment.
Which of the following would, if true, most strengthen the likelihood that the manager's plan will achieve its goal?
In emerging economies in Africa and other regions, large foreign banks that were set up during the colonial era have long played a major economic role. These institutions have tended to confine their business to the wealthier of banks’ potential customers. But development of these countries’ economies requires financing of the small businesses that dominate their manufacturing, farming, and services sectors. So economic growth will be likely to occur if local banks take on this portion of the financial services markets, since __________.
Which of the following completions would produce the strongest argument?
Country X's recent stock-trading scandal should not diminish investors' confidence in the country's stock market. For one thing, the discovery of the scandal confirms that Country X has a strong regulatory system, as the following considerations show. In any stock market, some fraudulent activity is inevitable. If a stock market is well regulated, any significant stock-trading fraud in it will very likely be discovered. This deters potential perpetrators and facilitates improvement in regulatory processes.
In the argument, the portion in boldface plays which of the following roles?
Farmer: Worldwide, just three grain crops—rice, wheat, and corn—account for most human caloric intake. To maintain this level of caloric intake and also keep pace with global population growth, yields per acre from each of these crops will have to increase at least 1.5 percent every year, given that the supply of cultivated land is diminishing. Therefore, the government should increase funding for research into new ways to improve yields.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the farmer's argument depends?