Logical reasoning PrepTest 106 · Section 3 · Question 10

Question prompt

Laura: Harold is obviously 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/Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed/Flawed

Question Type

Methods of Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

L: Harold is lonely, so if he moves to town he won’t be lonely because there are more people.
R: You can be lonely in a town - you need friends, not just neighbors.

Answer Anticipation

Anyone feel that this is the script for a State Farm commercial?
Whenever a Methods of Reasoning question features a rebuttal, we should start with a couple considerations:
Does the second speaker agree or disagree with the first speaker’s conclusion? If she disagrees, does she think it’s wrong or unsupported? Does the second speaker agree or disagree with the first speaker’s premises? Logic/assumptions? Does she bring up a new consideration?
Here, Ralph believes that Laura’s conclusion isn’t proven. While he believes Harold might not be lonely anymore if he moves to town, he doesn’t believe it’s a certainty, as Laura does.
Why does he believe that’s not the case? Laura believes that just moving to town is enough to prevent loneliness since there are a lot of people around. Ralph believes that moving to town isn’t enough - Harold would also need “genuine interaction” with these people.
Note the language we use here, and Ralph uses in his argument - “not enough” and “needed.” That’s sufficient/necessary language! Laura believes that moving to town and being near people is sufficient in ending loneliness. Ralph believes it isn’t, and that you need to actually interact with the people near you, as well. Let’s find an answer reflecting this.

Answer choices

  1. A
    something needed for a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    Ralph points out that proximity is “needed to avoid loneliness,” but it’s not the only thing needed to do so - in other words, it isn’t by itself sufficient for ending loneliness. Laura, however, believes that proximity to others “will” end Harold loneliness, treating it as sufficient for doing so. So Ralph points out that what Laura believes is sufficient to end loneliness isn’t sufficient, requiring something else as well, and so this answer is correct.
  2. B
    what is appropriate in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Laura speaks to a specific example, while Ralph speaks in generalities. As such, if anything, he’s the one arguing that something is appropriate in all cases!
  3. C
    what is logically certain Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Laura argues that Harold moving to town would be certain (“will not be”) to end his loneliness, whereas Harold argues that it’s not sufficient. So, if anything, he’s arguing against a certainty. (That said, he also speaks in certainties - the real issue here is that no one is arguing about intuition.)
  4. D
    various alternative solutions are Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Ralph brings up both proximity and genuine interaction, but he doesn’t treat them as alternative solutions. Rather, he argues that they’re both a part of the same solution for loneliness.
  5. E
    a proposed solution for Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Ralph doesn’t argue that Harold’s loneliness will be worse in town, just that moving to town won’t by itself end his loneliness.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

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

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