Logical reasoning PrepTest 114 · Section 4 · Question 4

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
Judgment - The government-run gas company is within its rights to sell gas appliances
Reasoning - The owner of a private gas company would be within their rights to sell gas appliances

Answer Anticipation:
Strengthen (Principle) questions will generally present you with a judgment in the conclusion backed up by a description of a situation, and your job is to connect that judgment to the details.

Here, the judgment is that a government-run gas company is within its rights to sell gas appliances. Why does the author believe that to be the case? Because a private gas company would be within their rights in doing so.

So the principle that this argument relies on is that if a private company is justified in doing something, then so is the government.

Note that we didn't include the opposing point at all—the merchants complaining about the government entering this market. The opposing point here isn't going to play into the author's reasoning since the author's argument is self-contained. It doesn't refer back to the details in the opposite point, and the conclusion renders its judgment on the situation. As long as we note what the government is within its rights to do here, the rest of the opposing point is irrelevant!

Answer Explanation:
This answer connects the right of a private company to enter a given market (which is established in the stimulus) to the government having that same right—which is what the conclusion states. This answer ties the premise into the conclusion, so it's the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
When a Strengthen (Principle) question has a self-contained argument made by the author, you can ignore the opposing point. It's not going to be a part of justifying the author's point!

Incorrect. The conclusion of the argument isn't about the complaints, and the author says that the government has a right to do the thing the merchants are complaining about, anyway!

Incorrect. There's no discussion of monopolies here, and the author also doesn't state that private companies can't remain in the market. In fact, it notes that there would be competition in the appliance market!

Incorrect. In this situation, the private companies were complaining, so this answer doesn't apply to this situation.

Incorrect. The conclusion is about the government competing in the market here, so this answer is out of scope.