Logical reasoning PrepTest 112 · Section 3 · Question 19

Question prompt

My father likes turnips, 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

Flawed Parallel Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

My dad - Likes turnips, hates potatoes (tasteless)
Conclusion - Some people who like potatoes don’t like turnips

Answer Anticipation

This argument seems so straightforward since there aren’t many pieces to it, so let’s make sure we understand how the pieces fit together so we can find the correct answer. Since the stimulus is relatively straightforward, we should expect the answers to be difficult!
The premise here describes two features of the author’s dad - he likes turnips, but he doesn’t like potatoes. The conclusion, however, is about the group of people who do like potatoes - some of them don’t like turnips. We rephrased this conclusion to get rid of the weird “it is not true” - it’s a lot easier to deal with the conclusion when we can see what it means instead of how it’s stated.
Thus, the conclusion is about people who like potatoes and don’t like turnips. Since her dad doesn’t belong to either of these groups, the conclusion is very much about the wrong group. In short, her dad isn’t an relevant example of her conclusion. To put it more directly:
Premise groups - Those who like turnips; those who don’t like potatoes
Conclusion groups - Those who like potatoes; those who don’t like turnips

Answer choices

  1. A
    This book is not Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Premise groups - Paperbacks; expensive books. Rephrasing the conclusion gives us - “If it’s a paperback, it’s not expensive.” So the conclusion is about paperback books, which is a group mentioned in the premises, so this answer is wrong. Also, if you noticed that this conclusion has a different logical force than the stimulus (“it is not true that whoever” vs. “it is not true that some”), that would be an independent reason for eliminating it.
  2. B
    Although this recently published Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    Premise groups - Works that aren’t novels; works with 75+ pages. Rephrased conclusion - Some novels don’t have more than 75 pages. Conclusion groups - Works that are novels; works with 75- pages. Both groups are the wrong groups, so this answer is parallel! Similar to the stimulus, the example in the premises isn’t of the statement in the conclusion.
  3. C
    All ornate buildings were Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    This argument is valid, applying a general principle to a specific example.
  4. D
    Erica enjoys studying physics, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This argument is also valid, with the example of Erica showing someone who likes physics but not pure math, which is the group that the conclusion is about.
  5. E
    People who do their Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    This answer features an illegal reversal, and the conclusion is about the same group as is mentioned in the conditional premise (people who do their own oil changes).

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 11%
  2. B Credited 51%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 31%
  5. E 6%

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