Logical reasoning PrepTest 113 · Section 3 · Question 6

Question prompt

It is proposed to 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

Weaken Questions

Stimulus Summary

Proposal - Allow medicine for swimmer’s ear to be sold over the counter
Objection - People might self-diagnose swimmer’s ear when they actually have something worse
Rebuttal Study - Of 1,000 people who thought they had swimmer’s ear, 84% were correct, beating doctors
Conclusion - People don’t need doctors to tell them they have swimmer’s ear

Answer Anticipation

There’s a very important shift to note in this argument that highlights a general approach you should be taking to argument-based questions. That approach? Use the conclusion to guide your understanding of the scope of the argument.
Here, the argument brings up a proposal, and an objection to that proposal. The conclusion, however, isn’t about the proposal as we might expect! A lot of these questions will present a conclusion about whether the proposal should be adopted, but instead this argument’s conclusion is in a different area - whether people can successfully diagnose swimmer’s ear in themselves without visiting a doctor.
Note that this is also different from the objection. The objection deals with missing more serious medical conditions. That’s not what the conclusion cares about - the conclusion cares only about whether people can diagnose swimmer’s ear in themselves without needing to go to a doctor.
Why does the argument believe that to be true? Because 84% of 1,000 people were able to do so - an accuracy rate higher than that of doctors.
With this understanding, we can look for an answer suggesting that it is necessary to go to a doctor to properly diagnose swimmer’s ear. We don’t know how the answer is going to do that, but having a solid understanding of the scope of the argument and what we’re actually trying to weaken will be key.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Cases in which swimmer's Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    First, this answer is out of scope of the argument since the conclusion is just about correctly diagnosing swimmer’s ear, not the problem of missing a more serious condition. Second, in stating that these conditions are “very rare,” this answer suggests that going to a doctor isn’t important, which aligns with the conclusion.
  2. B
    Most of those who Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    So the 16% were largely hypochondriacs? The conclusion takes into account that there’s a group that will misdiagnose when it says that “most” people can correctly diagnose swimmer’s ear, so this answer is already considered by the argument.
  3. C
    Most of the people Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Not what we would have anticipated, but this answer does speak to someone’s ability to diagnose swimmer’s ear without visiting a physician. If the correct diagnoses come after a prior instance of swimmer’s ear that was diagnosed and treated by a physician, then the ability to diagnose swimmer’s ear may have been developed only after a physician did it for the patient once. If that’s the case, then someone who has never had a diagnosis from a physician might not be able to diagnose themselves, thus weakening the argument.
  4. D
    Physicians who specialize in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This comparison to general practitioners is out of scope since physician specialties are never raised in the stimulus, and the relevant comparison is between physicians and self-diagnosis.
  5. E
    For many people who Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The conclusion isn’t about treatment, just diagnosis, so this answer is out of scope.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 2%
  2. B 4%
  3. C Credited 89%
  4. D 1%
  5. E 4%

Deeper help

Ask follow-ups on any step

Optional AI tutor mode will let you interrogate assumptions, compare answers, and drill weak patterns without leaving the page.

Human-written explanations stay primary; AI is an add-on when you want it.

Discussion

  • Why A 3 replies

    Started by Derek

View all discussions Start a discussion