Logical reasoning PrepTest 106 · Section 1 · Question 4

Question prompt

Dental researcher: Filling a 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

Principle Questions / Strengthen Questions

Stimulus Summary

Filling a cavity is harmful. Cavities are only sometimes harmful. So dentists shouldn’t fill cavities unless they're imminently harmful.

Answer Anticipation

Principle (Strengthen) questions generally present a judgment in the conclusion, based on details in the premises. You should start by identifying that judgment, and then find the premises that are meant to justify it.
Here, the judgment takes the form of a recommendation - dentists shouldn’t fill a cavity unless it’s posing imminent danger. Why shouldn’t they do so? Because filling a cavity is harmful, but cavities are only sometimes harmful (under certain conditions).
So to abstract from this situation, we can say that a principle underlying the Researcher’s argument is that dentists shouldn’t do something that is definitely harmful to prevent something that is only potentially harmful.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Dentists should perform any Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    First, there’s no indication that cavities are likely to end up harmful. Second, this answer would justify never filling a cavity, since doing so causes immediate harm.
  2. B
    Dentists should help their Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    The conclusion is about the filling of cavities, not their prevention, so this answer is out of scope.
  3. C
    A condition that is Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Cavities are only potentially harmful (if they threaten a nerve). Filling a cavity is definitely harmful. This answer justifies not filling a cavity that isn’t progressing to a harmful point, so it’s the correct answer.
  4. D
    A condition that is Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    There’s no indication that filling a cavity provides only temporary relief, or that cavities are typically progressive.
  5. E
    A condition that is Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Cavities are only potentially harmful, but the stimulus recommends leaving it untreated.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 12%
  2. B 2%
  3. C Credited 83%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 1%

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