Logical reasoning PrepTest 112 · Section 1 · Question 3

Question prompt

Finnish author Jaakko Mikkeli 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

Strengthen with Necessary Premise Questions

Stimulus Summary

Accusation - JM plagiarized KH’s book that was released 20 years ago
Facts - The books are similar enough that it’s unlikely the similarities are a coincidence
JM’s Defense - The book is only in Norwegian (JM doesn’t speak it) and no reviews have been published. So he can’t be a plagiarist.

Answer Anticipation

JM’s defense works by bringing up ways that he could have been aware of the plot points of KH’s book and ruling them out. If he doesn’t speak the only language it’s published in, then he didn’t learn the plot points by reading it. If it’s never been reviewed, he didn’t learn the plot points by reading a review.
However, these aren’t the only ways that he could have learned the plot points and then plagiarized them for his book. In reaching the conclusion that he didn’t plagiarize, JM is assuming that these other possibilities also didn’t happen. It’s probably not worth brainstorming what they could be - let’s head to the answer choices and look for something that fits the bill.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Mikkeli has never met Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Whether or not they’ve met is immaterial to whether JM plagiarized KH’s book. You can meet someone and not plagiarize their book; you can plagiarize someone’s book even if you’ve met them.
  2. B
    Halden's book did not Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    JM is Finnish, not Norwegian, and he doesn’t speak the language, so even if it was quite popular, we still don’t know the mechanism by which he would have learned of the plot points and then plagiarized them.
  3. C
    nobody related the plot Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    This answer rules out another way that JM could have learned the plot points of KH’s book in a way that would mean him copying them was plagiarism. If someone did relate the plot of her book to him, then he would be guilty of plagiarism and his defense would fall apart. This answer is thus correct.
  4. D
    there is a common Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This answer does bring up a way that JM could have ended up with similar plot points that wouldn’t be considered plagiarism. However, it’s not the only way that could have happened, and thus it’s not necessary that this is the case.
  5. E
    Mikkeli is not familiar Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    If Old Icelandic was similar enough to modern Norwegian to allow JM to read a book in that language, then this answer might be correct. However, this answer notes only that it’s similar to an earlier form of Norwegian, so even if JM knows Old Icelandic, it may be dissimilar enough from modern Norwegian that he wouldn’t be able to read and understand KH’s book.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 4%
  2. B 4%
  3. C Credited 81%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 9%

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