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Exercise 1.6 Model Answer

Create an argument map of the simple argument or arguments contained in the following passage from Apollo Moon Landings.  Note that you will need to:

• identify the key claims
• determine how many simple arguments the passage contains,
• produce an argument map of the simple argument(s)

The tyres of the Lunar Roving Vehicle have also been brought into question, as many think they would be likely to explode in the vacuum of space. Again, a simple bit of homework reveals that the tyres were not of the traditional, inflated rubber kind. The purpose-built LRV tyres were actually made from a mesh of zinc-coated piano wire, to which titanium treads were riveted in a chevron pattern. [8.5]

Note: you'll probably find that it helps you to read the passage in the context of the surrounding paragraphs in Apollo Moon Landings (p.8).

The passage contains two simple arguments:

Notice that much of the wording in the passage itself is eliminated when you are mapping the essence of the reasoning.  Thus phrases like "have also been brought into question, as many think they" and "Again, a simple bit of homework reveals that" are talking about the reasoning rather than being part of the reasoning itself.

One common mistake here is to think that the passage is presenting a single objection:

Notice that the objection here actually contains a simple argument, as shown in the model answer.