Logical reasoning PrepTest 118 · Section 4 · Question 6

Incorrect. Since the goal is to maintain beauty regardless of the expense, the costs of maintaining the two bridges is out of scope.

Incorrect. The established goal for the new bridge is to maintain beauty, not to have a practical advantage.

Incorrect. The argument has already established that the goal is to maintain beauty, so stating that this is a requirement doesn't add much to the argument and is too strong to be necessary.

Incorrect. Perceptions aren't necessary to the argument—just the actual maintenance of beauty.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Necessary Premise

Stimulus Summary:
Concrete skyway: Less expensive
Cable bridge: More expensive
Goal: Maintain beauty
Conclusion: The cable bridge is worth the cost.

Answer Anticipation:
The argument compares the two options—concrete skyway, cable bridge—over cost, but it sets out maintaining beauty as the goal. Without discussing the beauty of the two options, there's no way to know if the cable bridge helps to achieve that goal, or that it does so to such a degree as to justify the cost! The argument is relying on the cable bridge helping to achieve the goal of maintaining beauty more than the concrete skyway would, so the correct answer should draw that comparison.

Answer Explanation:
This answer establishes that the cable bridge is better equipped to meet the established goal than the concrete skyway. If the cable bridge wasn't more aesthetically pleasing, the whole argument falls apart.

Key Takeaway:
In some of these questions, the difficulty is in not reading the assumption into the argument itself. Here, it would be very easy to not notice the author never established the cable bridge as more aesthetically pleasing than the concrete skyway. Make sure that you don't read elements into the argument that aren't there!