Logical reasoning PrepTest 119 · Section 2 · Question 18

Question prompt

Many physicists claim 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

Parallel Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

Many physicists: Quantum mechanics might explain everything, and thus we’ll soon have a complete theory of everything.
Author: Every previous theory has eventually been incomplete, so this one will be, too.

Answer Anticipation

The Author in this argument rebuts a claim about a theory by highlighting what has been true of every previous theory. However, she ignores that this theory might be different than the previous ones - and thus it could be complete. In ignoring this possibility, the argument commits a classic error in reasoning, so we should look for an answer that does the same - it bases a conclusion about what will happen based on what has always happened.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Only a few species Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    This answer jumps from what is true of plants to what is true of animals - not from what has been true to what will continue to be true.
  2. B
    Four companies have marketed Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    This answer’s argument is about market saturation, not a general trend. And, in any case, the argument shifts from companies releasing a new product to one company not releasing such a product. The stimulus featured what was true of past situations also being true of future ones.
  3. C
    Your sister is a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    This answer uses what has always been true - the sister losing chess tournaments - to what will be true in a future instance. That’s the same flawed reasoning as the stimulus, so this is the correct answer.
  4. D
    A rare virus infected Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This answer uses what happened a decade ago to predict it won’t happen again, which is the opposite of the prediction made in the stimulus.
  5. E
    Each team member has Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    This answer has a Part vs. Whole (Part to Whole) flaw, not a temporal one.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 3%
  2. B 5%
  3. C Credited 67%
  4. D 3%
  5. E 21%

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