Editorial: The roof of Northtown's municipal equipment-storage building collapsed under the weight of last week's heavy snowfall. The building was constructed recently and met local building-safety codes in every particular, except that the nails used for attaching roof supports to the building's columns were of a smaller size than the codes specify for this purpose. Clearly, this collapse exemplifies how even a single, apparently insignificant departure from safety standards can have severe consequences.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the editorial's argument?


The only other buildings to suffer roof collapses from the weight of the snowfall were older buildings constructed according to less exacting standards than those in the codes.

The amount of snow that accumulated on the roof of the equipment storage building was greater than the predicted maximum that was used in drawing up the safety codes.

Because the equipment-storage building was not intended for human occupation, some safety-code provisions that would have applied to an office building did not apply to it.

The municipality of Northtown itself has the responsibility for ensuring that buildings constructed within its boundaries meet the provisions of the building-safety codes.

Because the equipment-storage building was used for storing snow removal equipment, the building was almost completely empty when the roof collapsed.

考题讲解

情景:冬天下雪把房子压塌了。除了一个钉子外,这个房子的方方面面都达到了安全标准。因此,就算是一个细小的不达标的地方都会造成严重的影响。

推理:本题的结论写的有点隐晦,不过细心的考生还是可以看出这个结论的意思是:“这颗钉子导致了房子的坍塌”。前提中“钉子”和“房屋坍塌”具有时间关联(巧合),结论中两者具有因果关系,因此本题为相关因果推理,推理结构为:
前提:“钉子”和“房屋坍塌”具有相关关系
结论:钉子导致了房子的坍塌

选题方式:相关因果推理有四个评估方向,简而言之,即,答案选项要么同时提及钉子和坍塌,要么给坍塌另一个原因。

选项分析:

A选项:其它由于积雪的重量而坍塌的房屋是那些低于安全标准的老房子。本选项没有提及钉子,并且不能解释为什么这间房子会坍塌,只是给出了其它坍塌的房子的性质。

B选项:Correct. 这间房屋房顶的积雪量超过了安全标准的预设最大积雪量。本选项给了房屋坍塌的另一个原因,即,可能并非因为这个钉子才坍塌的,而是因为雪量太大。属于CQ4:独立第三因素问题

C选项:因为储藏房屋不是给人类居住的,所以有些办公室用的安全标准并没有应用在这种房屋上。无论储藏房屋的安全标准如何,都无法解释为什么这次坍塌。也就是说,办公室的安全标准并不一定会保证房子不坍塌,反过来说,没有办公室的安全标准的房子,也不一定坍塌。

D选项:
Northtown的市政局有责任要求其境内的所有房屋达到安全标准。这个选项一看就是捣乱的,其和钉子及坍塌均无联系。

E选项:
因为储藏房屋是用来储存扫雪器具的,所以在屋顶坍塌的时候其里面几乎是空的。本选项只能说明这次坍塌并未造成什么损失,与本题推理无关。

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