Logical reasoning PrepTest 105 · Section 2 · Question 21

Question prompt

Some people have been Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Methods of Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

Of a new herbal remedy - Skeptical cold sufferer: People don’t want to feel sick, so if the remedy worked, people would take it. But they’re not, so it can’t be effective.

Answer Anticipation

This question tasks us with describing the method of reasoning used by the cold sufferer. So how does she go about reaching the conclusion that the herbal remedy doesn’t work? She starts by bringing up what would be true if it did work - almost everyone would be taking it. She then shows that this isn’t the case, and thus concludes that it doesn’t work. So she creates a hypothetical outcome if her conclusion were false, and then she shows that that outcome hasn’t come to pass, so her conclusion must be true. Let’s find an answer reflecting that.

Answer choices

  1. A
    finding a claim to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    This answer sounds a lot like our anticipation, but let’s walk through it. The argument does find a claim to be false - that the herbal remedy works. Is that based on, if true, it having consequences that are false? Yep - if it did work, then everyone would take it, but they don't. This answer accurately describes the Cold Sufferer’s reasoning, so this is the correct answer.
  2. B
    accepting a claim on Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    The argument rejects a claim - it doesn’t accept it. And if you viewed the claim that it accepts as being that the remedy doesn’t work, there’s no indication the public believes the remedy does work. Sure, they don’t use it, but that could be because they don’t know about it!
  3. C
    showing that conditions necessary Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The argument shows that conditions necessary (almost everyone using it) for a claim (the remedy works) to be true aren’t met, so this answer misses the mark.
  4. D
    basing a generalization on Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The conclusion here isn’t a generalization - it’s a claim on a specific remedy. It also isn’t based on a representative group of instances - it’s based on a hypothetical.
  5. E
    showing that a measure Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The Cold Sufferer doesn’t claim that the remedy makes getting better harder, so this answer is incorrect.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 53%
  2. B 10%
  3. C 18%
  4. D 16%
  5. E 4%

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