Logical reasoning PrepTest 112 · Section 3 · Question 6

Question prompt

Government official: A satisfactory 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

Argument Structure Questions

Stimulus Summary

Problem - Chronic food shortages in a country
Solution 1 - Direct food shipments
Problem with S1 - We won’t be agriculturally self-sufficient since local producers will go out of business
Solution 2 - Foreign investment in development projects
Problem with S2 - So much cash would cause inflation, making food unaffordable
Conclusion - Solving our chronic food shortage problem will be hard

Answer Anticipation

This argument opens up with an opinion about a problem that the country faces - chronic food shortage problems. The Official here predicts that they will be hard to solve. Such statements - opinions, predictions - are almost always conclusions, so we should read on with the presumption that this is the main point.
We should also read on expecting there to be solutions offered, as this passage does appear to fall into the problem/solution pattern. And, indeed, it does! The Official presents two solutions (direct food aid; direct investment), but she points out problems with both of them that would prevent them from truly solving the issue. Since showing how potential solutions won’t actually solve the problem just goes to prove how hard that problem is to solve, the opening line is the main point.
The statement in question deals with the second proposed solution - it points out why direct investment in development projects won’t help to solve the chronic food shortages. That’s direct support for the conclusion, so we should expect the answer to say that it’s a premise in support of that conclusion. It may also use problem/solution language, but it doesn’t have to.

Answer choices

  1. A
    It supports the claim Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Agricultural self-sufficiency was brought up in relation to the other solution, direct food aid.
  2. B
    It supports the claim Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer says that the statement in question is a premise (“supports the claim”), and it properly paraphrases the conclusion of the argument, so this is the correct answer.
  3. C
    It is supported by Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Agricultural self-sufficiency was brought up in relation to the other solution, and this answer describes the statement in question as a conclusion (“is supported by”) instead of a premise.
  4. D
    It supports the claim Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The statement in question relates to direct investment in projects, not direct food shipments, so this answer addresses the wrong solution - same as (A) and (C).
  5. E
    It is supported by Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Yet another answer about the other solution presented in the stimulus!

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 6%
  2. B Credited 83%
  3. C 2%
  4. D 6%
  5. E 3%

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