Logical reasoning PrepTest 115 · Section 4 · Question 11

Incorrect. The Letter Writer criticizes the writers, who weren't willing to sign their name to their article.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Anonymous article - People should have to carry and show ID cards upon request

Letter - The writers didn't put their names to the article, so they can't claim that people should need ID

Answer Anticipation:
The Letter Writer here rebuts an opposing point, so we should focus on how it rebuts that argument in order to see where it falls short.

And here, the Letter Writer doesn't address any reasons for why the anonymous article's argument is wrong. In fact, we don't even learn what that argument is, just the conclusion of it.

Since the Letter Writer doesn't focus on the opposing argument, what does she focus on? The hypocrisy of the writers of the article. They're calling for people to always carry ID on them and be willing to show it upon request, but they weren't even willing to ID themselves in the article. This accusation of hypocrisy serves as the entirety of the rebuttal, so this argument commits an Attacking the Person flaw. Let's find an answer stating that the argument focuses on attacking those making an argument instead of the argument itself.

Answer Explanation:
This answer reflects that the rebuttal attacks the article writers instead of their argument, describing an Attacking the Person flaw. It doesn't specifically go into the accusation of hypocrisy, but it doesn't need to, as this describes the broader category of flaw that such an accusation falls into.

Key Takeaway:
When an Errors in Reasoning question features a rebuttal, focus on how that rebuttal works. Frequently, it will fail to address the initial argument—either because it mischaracterizes that argument, or it points out a shortcoming and then concludes the conclusion is false, or it attacks the people behind it rather than the argument itself. In this case, the argument falls into the third category.

Incorrect. The Letter Writer doesn't accuse the article writers of committing an error in reasoning—it accuses them of hypocrisy. Additionally, the Letter Writer's name isn't included in the stimulus, but that doesn't mean that she didn't include it in the letter. Finally, the Letter Writer isn't saying that people should be forced to carry and show ID, so even ignoring the first two reasons to get rid of this answer, she's not acting hypocritically and thus isn't doing the same thing she accuses others of.

Incorrect. While the Letter Writer arguably does attack the integrity of the article writers by pointing out hypocrisy, she does know a couple things about them: They wrote this article, and they didn't attach their names to it.

Incorrect. In both cases, the Letter Writer uses anonymous in its usual sense, meaning not specifically identified.