Logical reasoning PrepTest 113 · Section 3 · Question 17

Question prompt

Because addictive drugs are Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Must Be True Questions

Stimulus Summary

Everyone accepts - Addictive drugs are physically harmful, so athletes shouldn’t use them
Purists - Nonaddictive drugs are unnatural, so athletes shouldn’t use them
Author - Almost everything in sports is unnatural but not banned, so it would be ridiculous to ban nonaddictive drugs. Also, there are bigger problems in sports.
Conclusion/Recommendation - Athletes should be allowed to use nonaddictive drugs

Answer Anticipation

First off, always be sure to go back and re-read the stimulus on these double-up questions with a new mindset based on the second question type.
As an argument-based Must be True question tacked on to a Weaken question, it’s going to be very hard to anticipate what the correct answer will say. We should focus on the author’s portion of the argument, not the portion where people the author disagrees with are making their arguments, as those opposing points generally won’t serve as the basis for correct answers (since the author doesn’t think what they say must be true).
Other than that, though, we need to head in a little blind and find an answer that aligns with our understanding of the passage.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The fact that something Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    The author claims it’s ridiculous to ban athletes from using something because it’s unnatural, since almost everything athletes use is unnatural. As such, it must be the case that being unnatural isn’t enough of a reason to ban something, as this answer states. This answer thus must be true, so it’s the correct answer.
  2. B
    There is nothing unnatural Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    The author uses the ubiquity of unnatural things in sports to justify the continued use of these drugs, implying that she believes they are unnatural.
  3. C
    The use of addictive Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    First, the author believes that unnatural things shouldn’t be banned for that reason - it’s the entirety of her reasoning behind her argument about nonaddictive drugs. Second, the author believes addictive drugs should be banned because they are physically harmful.
  4. D
    Some of the unnecessary Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    While the author does believe addictive drugs are physically harmful and there are unnecessary deaths and injuries plaguing modern sports, she never connects those ideas. In fact, they’re part of two separate arguments, and the author has pivoted (twice in fact - to nonaddictive drugs, and then with the “Furthermore”).
  5. E
    The use of addictive Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The author never compares how serious of a problem these two things are.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 87%
  2. B 2%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 4%
  5. E 6%

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