Editorial: A recent survey shows that 77 percent of people feel that crime is increasing and that 87 percent feel th...

Ravi on July 21, 2019

@Minerva,

Happy to help. Let's look at (B).

We know the editorial says that 77% of people think that crime is
increasing, and 87% favor stricter sentences. Thus, the government
must address the rising crime rate problem.

The only data involves the use of survey results, so we know that the
editorial must somehow misuse these survey results. The conclusion
states that the government must firmly address the rising crime rate
problem. However, do we even know that the crime rate is rising and
that it's a problem? It's possible that the survey responders could be
overly paranoid and crime might not be nearly as bad as they think it
is. Additionally, it's possible that crime isn't rising even if it is
perceived as rising. These flaws are what we need to look out for in
the answer choices.

(B) says, "presumes, without providing justification, that there is a
correlation between criminal offenders being treated leniently and a
high crime rate"

In order for (B) to be correct, the correlation that was mentioned in
the stimulus would need to be based on factual evidence (like crime
rates), not items such as surveys. And, because surveys are the only
type of evidence provided in the stimulus, they can't provide the
basis for the flaw that is described in (B). Thus, we can get rid of
this answer choice.

(D) says, "fails to distinguish between the crime rates' actually
rising and people's believing that the crime rate is rising"

(D) provides us with an excellent synopsis of what the main flaw of
the argument is. The perception that crime is rising is not
necessarily based in reality, so this is the correct answer choice.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any other questions!