Logical reasoning PrepTest 112 · Section 1 · Question 16

Question prompt

A number of measures 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

Facts

Valid or Flawed

NA

Question Type

Must Be True Questions

Stimulus Summary

Factors in determining a country’s economic viability:
Most significant - Level/rate of growth; Aggregate output Unemployment and Inflation
There are many countries with viable economies but not very large populations

Answer Anticipation

This stimulus has two “pieces” to it that are largely disconnected, tied together only by a discussion of a viable economy.
The first piece discusses factors that determine a country’s economic viability, and it lists some as more significant than others (the “most” significant, in fact), so we can support answers that discuss factors in such viability - even comparative ones.
The second piece gives examples of countries that have viable economies despite having populations on the smaller side. This does establish that a large population isn’t a requirement for a viable economy, but it doesn’t tie population into any of the metrics from the first piece. This will support weak generalizations about large populations not being required, or countries with smaller populations “sometimes” having viable economies.

Answer choices

  1. A
    A nation's economic viability Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    This answer is too strong in saying that the viability is “independent” of the size of its population. While countries with varying population sizes but on the small end have viable economies, that population size could be a factor. And there could be other, smaller countries that don’t have viable economies because their population size is too small.
  2. B
    Having a population larger Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    This answer is also too strong in stating that population size can “guarantee” a viable economy. It’s even noted that the “most significant” indicators of a viable economy are level/rate of growth and aggregate output, neither of which are tied to a magic number of 7m population.
  3. C
    Economic viability does not Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    The stimulus provides examples of viable economies in countries with fewer than 7m people. Therefore, having a population of that size must not be a requirement for having a viable economy. This answer is supported by certain examples in the stimulus, so it’s the correct answer.
  4. D
    A nation's population is Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    There’s nothing in the stimulus that connects population to level/rate of growth or aggregate output, so this answer is wholly unsupported.
  5. E
    A nation's population affects Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    There’s nothing tying population to either of these metrics, let alone in a way that lets us draw this comparison.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 21%
  2. B 1%
  3. C Credited 74%
  4. D 1%
  5. E 3%

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