16Hit1600
Craft and StructureVery hardWeighing two accounts of the same evidence

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 The sharp fall in the town's recorded burglaries after 2015 shows that the new street lighting deterred thieves, argues councillor Ravi Menon. Text 2 Recorded burglaries fell across the whole region after 2015, in lit and unlit towns alike, when the police changed how minor break-ins were classified. The town's fall is real in the records and may be nothing more than that.

Which choice best describes how the author of Text 2 responds to Menon's argument?

  1. A. By showing that the fall Menon cites is explained by a region-wide change in record-keeping rather than by the lighting.Correct
  2. B. By denying that the lighting was installed.
  3. C. By arguing that burglaries actually rose.
  4. D. By claiming that lighting attracts thieves.

Answer: A. By showing that the fall Menon cites is explained by a region-wide change in record-keeping rather than by the lighting.

Region-wide, lit and unlit alike, a classification change: the fall is in the records, not the streets.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. By denying that the lighting was installed.
The lighting is not disputed.
C. By arguing that burglaries actually rose.
Text 2 says the fall in the records is real.
D. By claiming that lighting attracts thieves.
Not claimed.

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