Logical reasoning PrepTest 117 · Section 4 · Question 11

Question prompt

It is easy to 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

Errors in Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

Board member Wagston’s staff has regularly bribed people to receive government contracts, so the Board is corrupt and should be replaced.

Answer Anticipation

The conclusion of this argument is very broad, applying to the entire Board of Directors. However, the premise only deals with a single board member - and not even really Wagston herself but rather members of her staff. The argument establishes that some of her staff were guilty of bribery, concluding that the whole board is therefore corrupt.
Jumping from what is true of a member of a group to what is true of the group itself? That’s a Part vs. Whole flaw (specifically, going from the part to the whole). Any answer that highlights this jump or that what is true of this one part of the Board isn’t necessarily true of all parts of the Board will serve as a correct answer here.

Answer choices

  1. A
    the argument fails to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    This answer highlights that the corruption might not extend to the entire Board - it may be limited to a single member. If that’s the case, then Wagston’s office may be corrupt, but the Board itself can’t necessarily be said to have the same issue.
  2. B
    the argument fails to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    “Your honor, I swear, I only bribed government officials!” That doesn’t make it better or any less corrupt!
  3. C
    the argument fails to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    If you need this spelled out, you may have trouble passing the character and fitness portion of the Bar! There’s an inherent link between bribery and corruption, and anyone engaged in bribery is engaged in corruption by the definition of the words.
  4. D
    the argument presumes without Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The argument doesn’t assume the entire staff has engaged in bribery/corruption - it states that “various persons on the staff” have done so.
  5. E
    the argument attempts to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The conclusion of the argument is that the Board is corrupt and should be replaced. As such, speaking to the crimes that Board members’s staffs have engaged in is absolutely relevant to that conclusion. Additionally, there is no “substantive issue” raised outside of this accusation to deflect away from.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 62%
  2. B 5%
  3. C 13%
  4. D 17%
  5. E 3%

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