Question

The higher the altitude, the thinner the air. Since Mexico City's altitude is higher than that of Panama City, the air must be thinner in Mexico City than in Panama City.

Which one of the following arguments is most similar in its reasoning . to the argument above?
A) As one gets older, one gets wiser. Since Henrietta is older than her daughter, Henrietta must be wiser than her daughter.
B) The more egg whites used and the longer they are beaten, the fluffier the meringue. Since Lydia used more egg whites in her meringue than Joseph used in his, Lydia's meringue must be fluffier than Joseph's.
C) The people who run the fastest marathons these days are faster than the people who ran the fastest marathons ten years ago. Charles is a marathon runner. So Charles must run faster marathons these days than he did ten years ago.
D) The older a tree, the more rings it has. The tree in Lou's yard is older than the tree in Theresa's yard. Therefore, the tree in Lou's yard must have more rings than does the tree in Theresa's yard.
E) The bigger the vocab a language has, the harder it is to learn. English is harder to learn than Italian. Therefore, English must have a bigger vocab than Italian.

Answer 1

The higher the altitude, the thinner the air. This argument is similar to the comparison of the current speed of marathon runners to the speed of runners from the past to draw conclusions about an individual's current performance. Option C

Step-by-step explanation:

The argument in the question is based on the relationship between altitude and air thickness. It states that the higher the altitude, the thinner the air. By comparing the altitudes of Mexico City and Panama City, it concludes that the air is thinner in Mexico City.

A similar argument can be seen in option C) The people who run the fastest marathons these days are faster than the people who ran the fastest marathons ten years ago. Charles is a marathon runner. So Charles must run faster marathons these days than he did ten years ago. J

ust like the altitude affects the thickness of the air, the current speed of the fastest marathon runners is compared to the speed of runners from the past to draw a conclusion about Charles' current performance. Option C