Logical reasoning PrepTest 117 · Section 4 · Question 22

Question prompt

Trainer: Research shows that 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

Errors in Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

Goal - Protect your dog from arthritis
Approach - Wait to neuter your dog until fully grown
Support - Neutering a dog in early puppyhood results in bad leg bones, which causes arthritis

Answer Anticipation

The argument goes from premises about what happens when you neuter a puppy in early puppyhood (arthritis) to a conclusion recommending that someone wait until the dog is full-grown before doing so.
Talking about “early puppyhood” and when the dog is “full-grown” suggests a timeline of action. However, it’s missing a lot of the time in between the two - by specifically referring to “early” puppyhood, the stimulus implies that there is a period of “late” puppyhood before a dog is fully grown. But by skipping over that period in making the recommendation to wait until the dog is fully grown, the argument is flawed.

Answer choices

  1. A
    It fails to state Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    While it doesn’t give a specific number, it does state that this is “usually” the case - so it happens over 50% of the time. That’s sufficiently large to suggest a connection even if the specific number between 50% and 100% isn’t listed.
  2. B
    It fails to explain Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    If the connection is established, then we accept it as true even if it’s not explained. The only time it’s a flaw to fail to explain a connection is if that explanation is necessary for the argument’s conclusion to hold true - which is almost never the case.
  3. C
    It fails to address Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    This answer highlights the missing “middle ground” from the argument. While the argument does establish that there are issues with neutering a puppy in early puppyhood, it doesn’t discuss the effects of neutering a dog in these other stages of growth, and thus it ignores a relevant possibility in reaching the recommendation in the conclusion.
  4. D
    It fails to consider Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The conclusion is conditioned on wanting to protect your dog from arthritis, so these other benefits are out of scope. If the conclusion didn’t have that condition on it, then other benefits would be relevant and this answer could be correct.
  5. E
    It fails to consider Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The argument doesn’t conclude that neutering a dog later in life will prevent arthritis - just that it will protect the dog from it by removing one potential cause of it.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 7%
  2. B 4%
  3. C Credited 40%
  4. D 16%
  5. E 31%

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