Logical reasoning PrepTest 112 · Section 3 · Question 7

Question prompt

Medical doctor: Sleep deprivation 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

Strengthen Questions

Stimulus Summary

Problem - Most people are sleep-deprived, which causes a lot of problems
Solution - Give people flexibility with their work schedules

Answer Anticipation

This argument falls into a common pattern - a problem/solution argument. The Doctor presents a problem - sleep deprivation and the concurrent effects of it - and then proposes a solution.
When an argument falls into the basic problem/solution pattern (a problem is presented, and the author argues for a single solution), the flaw is frequently that the solution presented isn’t established as addressing the problem, or is established as being, at most, a partial solution. We should always start analyzing these arguments along that front.
Here, the problem is sleep deprivation. Does allowing people a flexible work schedule address that? Not directly. Just because you can work around your own schedule doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to get enough sleep! Maybe it just means that you’ll spend your days with family or friends and then work through the night, making sleep deprivation worse.
To strengthen this argument, then, we need to find an answer that suggests such flexibility would, in fact, lead to more sleep for the average person.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The primary cause of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Scheduling flexibility wouldn’t help with the amount of work one needs to do, so this answer cuts against the argument.
  2. B
    Employees would get more Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer directly connects scheduling flexibility to getting more sleep, thus establishing that the proposed solution would, at least partially, address the problem. This answer therefore strengthens the argument.
  3. C
    Individuals vary widely in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The stimulus establishes that most people suffer from sleep deprivation, regardless of how much sleep they require, so this answer doesn’t really affect the argument at all.
  4. D
    More people would suffer Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This answer ties sleep deprivation to the number of hours worked, not how flexible one’s schedule is. If anything, this suggests that the proposed solution might not address the cause of the sleep deprivation problem.
  5. E
    The extent of one's Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Similar to (D), this answer ties sleep deprivation to something other than scheduling flexibility - the number of hours per day worked. If that’s the case, then the proposed solution won’t address the cause of sleep deprivation, suggesting that the proposed solution might not work.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 4%
  2. B Credited 86%
  3. C 3%
  4. D 1%
  5. E 6%

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Discussion

  • A? 1 reply

    Started by burdal

  • Choice E 2 replies

    Started by sadaabrahman

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