Logical reasoning PrepTest 102 · Section 3 · Question 7

Question prompt

A commonly accepted myth Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Errors in Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

Myth - Left-handed people are more accident prone than right-handed people Evidence against - More accidents are caused by right-handed people than left-handed people Conclusion - The myth is false

Answer Anticipation

As we read through Errors in Reasoning questions, we should be looking for elements that suggest specific flaws. Here, we see two that relate to the same flaw. First, the myth involves a note about being accident-prone - and how prone someone is to an accident is a statement of probability. As such, it reflects a percent. Then, in the information that rebuts the myth, we see a discussion of amount - more accidents are caused by right-handed people than left-handed people. In doing so, the argument is trying to rebut a percent with an amount, which we know is a jump that we can’t make! Even if right-handed people cause more accidents than left-handed people, left-handed people could be more accident-prone if there are more accidents per left-handed person. After all, there are significantly more righties than lefties. So if right-handed people are responsible for 55% of all accidents, but they make up 90% of the population, then those lefties are each generating a lot of accidents! Let’s find an answer reflecting this Percent vs. Amount flaw.

Answer choices

  1. A
    makes a distinction where Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    What distinction doesn’t actually exist? Righties and lefties are different people, and accident-prone relates to the number of accidents one is involved in.
  2. B
    takes no account of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer reflects a part of the Percent vs. Amount gap. By failing to take into consideration the possibility that there are significantly more righties than lefties, the argument fails to consider that righties could cause more accidents but lefties could be responsible for more per person.
  3. C
    uses the word "accidents" Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    There’s no indication that “accident” is being used to mean anything different in each use.
  4. D
    ignores the possibility that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    That possibility doesn’t create problems for the argument. It would simply count as an accident caused by the handedness of each person involved.
  5. E
    gives wholly irrelevant evidence Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The number of accidents caused by people of each handedness isn’t wholly irrelevant - it’s a part of the equation. It’s just not the full story.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 7%
  2. B Credited 70%
  3. C 11%
  4. D 3%
  5. E 9%

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