Logical reasoning PrepTest 106 · Section 2 · Question 24

Question prompt

Marianne is a professional 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

Principle Questions / Strengthen Questions

Stimulus Summary

Background - Marianne hums during professional chess matches, distracting her opponents Order - Stop humming or be disqualified! Marianne: I’m not aware of it, so it’s involuntary, so I can’t be responsible/disqualified for it!

Answer Anticipation

For Principle (Strengthen) questions, we want to focus on the judgment in the conclusion, and connect it to the details in the premises. Here, Marianne’s judgment is that she shouldn’t be held responsible or disqualified for her humming. Why does she believe that to be the case? Because she’s unaware of the humming, so it’s involuntary. The correct answer, then, should connect these ideas: A person shouldn’t be held responsible/disqualified for involuntary actions.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Chess players who hum Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Marianne’s argument is about being held responsible for her humming, not about hypocrisy when a hummer complains about humming. This answer is out of scope.
  2. B
    Of a player's actions, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    Marianne argues that her humming shouldn’t disqualify her because it’s involuntary. So she assumes that involuntary actions shouldn’t serve as the basis for disqualification, or, in other words, only voluntary actions should serve as the basis for disqualification. This answer matches that assumption, so it’s the correct answer.
  3. C
    A person should be Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Marianne’s humming distracts her opponents, so it serves her interests. This answer, therefore, justifies the disqualification, so it doesn’t support Marianne’s argument against it.
  4. D
    Types of behavior that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    There’s no indication whether humming is considered voluntary or not in everyday circumstances, so this answer doesn’t necessarily apply to Marianne’s situation.
  5. E
    Chess players should be Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Marianne’s argument is that she doesn’t attempt to distract her opponents - her distracting behavior is involuntary. As such, this answer doesn’t apply to her argument. Additionally, this answer justifies disqualifying someone, which is what Marianne is arguing against!

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 5%
  2. B Credited 91%
  3. C 2%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 1%

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Discussion

  • Not E? 3 replies

    Started by Miller

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