Logical reasoning PrepTest 120 · Section 4 · Question 21

Incorrect. The argument only cares about saving enough money, not as much money as possible, so this answer is irrelevant to the logic.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
We need to cut our budget. We can do it by firing faculty or cutting their salaries. We won't do the former, so we must do the latter.

Answer Anticipation:
This argument falls into a common pattern that shows up in Methods of Reasoning questions—the elimination of alternatives. Here, the Administrator brings up two ways to accomplish a goal, eliminates one, and concludes another.

For an argument to validly use this method of reasoning, two things must happen. First, it must establish an exhaustive list of alternatives. Second, it must fully eliminate all but one of them.

Here, the Admin does state that one of the options "will not" be used. That's a definitive ruling-out of it. However, she fails to establish that the two options listed are an exhaustive list of ways to cut the budget to the desired level.

Since she failed to establish that the list of alternatives was exhaustive, her argument is flawed. Let's look for an answer stating that she failed to establish that these two options are the only options; rephrased, she failed to establish that there are no other options.

Answer Explanation:
This answer brings up the Admin's assumption—that the only two ways to reduce the budget sufficiently are to fire faculty or cut their salaries. As such, this is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
An argument that reaches its conclusion by eliminating alternatives needs to establish that the list of alternatives it considers (and eliminates from) is exhaustive. If it doesn't establish that they're the only potential alternatives, then the argument is flawed.

Incorrect. The Admin never ties firing faculty or cutting their salaries to a 15% reduction in the budget—she simply states that the budget could be sufficiently reduced by these options.

Incorrect. The Admin doesn't need some faculty members to leave their jobs—she establishes that cutting salaries would allow for sufficient cuts to the budget.

Incorrect. The Admin states that they won't eliminate faculty positions, so she doesn't ignore the possibility of doing a mix of both strategies—she eliminates one as a possibility.