Logical reasoning PrepTest 103 · Section 3 · Question 4

Question prompt

The government has spent Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

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

Argument Structure Questions

Stimulus Summary

Cleanup - The government spends a lot on this, but hasn’t fully cleaned up a site, and it’s expensive
Prevention - More effective than cleanup
Budget - More on a single site cleanup than on all of prevention
Conclusion - Spend more on prevention!

Answer Anticipation

Before we even look at the stimulus, this question stem strongly suggests that it’s asking about the conclusion. How can we know? Well, it asks us about a proposal that should be adopted. In general, a recommendation about what should be done is the main point of the argument.
And nothing in the stimulus shifts that view. It talks about the relative benefits/costs of cleanup vs. prevention, showing that prevention is more effective, leading to the conclusion that money should be shifted towards it. Let’s find an answer saying that the statement in question is the main point of the argument.

Answer choices

  1. A
    It represents an unsupported Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Unsupported speculation would be some type of uncertain premise, which isn’t the case here, so we can rule this answer out.

  2. B
    It both supports another Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    This answer describes an intermediate conclusion. Since the statement in question doesn’t go on to support any other statement, it’s the main point, not an intermediate one, and we can rule this answer out.

  3. C
    It is the claim Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    This answer is a long way of saying it’s the main point, so it’s the correct answer.

  4. D
    It is a presupposition Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    A presupposition is usually an assumption, but this answer states that it’s something on which the argument is “explicitly” based, and assumptions can’t really be explicit. This answer is describing a statement that brings up an assumption and says that the argument does, in fact, assume that it’s true (e.g., “If it’s assumed that…”), which isn’t the case here.

  5. E
    It presents an objection Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    There’s only one proposal mentioned in the argument. The current state of affairs (spending more on cleanup than prevention) isn’t a proposal, but rather what is happening.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 6%
  2. B 4%
  3. C Credited 86%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 3%

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