Logical reasoning PrepTest 119 · Section 2 · Question 9

Question prompt

Alice: In democracies, politicians Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument/Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed/Flawed

Question Type

Point at Issue Questions

Stimulus Summary

A: Politicians win by contrasting themselves to opponents, and then they follow through when in power, so policies swing back and forth in democracies.
E: Politicians need to compromise to form coalitions, so they moderate their stances when in power.

Answer Anticipation

Elwell’s statements are shorter, so let’s focus on his statements and check them against what Alice weighs in on to identify any areas of disagreement.
Elwell starts by discussing election rhetoric. Alice brings it up, too, but they both seem to agree that it is a bit more extreme or polarizing.
Elwell believes that politicians moderate/soften their stands from this rhetoric to build coalitions, whereas Alice believes that they rule “in accord” with this rhetoric - in other words, they disagree on whether politicians stick to what they say on the campaign trail in office. This is a point at issue between them.
There’s nothing else to Elwell’s statements, so let’s head to the answers with our anticipation!

Answer choices

  1. A
    politicians heighten the differences Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Elwell doesn’t speak to what politicians specifically say on the campaign trail other than that they soften these positions when taking office, so this answer is out of scope of his statements.
  2. B
    basic policies change drastically Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    Alice believes this happens - it’s the closing clause of her statements. Elwell believes that politicians soften their views and compromise to build coalitions once in office, so he disagrees with these fluctuations being wild/drastic. This answer is therefore correct.
  3. C
    in a democracy the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Neither speaks to the “best” method of ensuring continuity in policies, so this answer is out of scope.
  4. D
    most voters stay loyal Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Neither speaker talks about voter behavior, so this answer is out of scope.
  5. E
    the desire of parties Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    There’s no discussion of a “desire” to build majority coalitions, or these coalitions supporting democratic systems, so this answer is out of scope.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 8%
  2. B Credited 85%
  3. C 3%
  4. D 1%
  5. E 3%

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