Logical reasoning PrepTest 123 · Section 2 · Question 11

Question prompt

It is now a 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

Argument Structure Questions

Stimulus Summary

A common complaint is stated. The author then pivots to a comparable situation from the past, and draws a conclusion that contradicts the common complaint.

Answer Anticipation

In general, an argument is going to pivot away from common beliefs (even those that take the form of complaints). Here, we see that happen with the, "But . . . " The author moves away from the complaint and eventually concludes ("So . . . ") that this complaint will turn out to be overblown. She does so by using the statement in question—something that happened in the past that the author views as comparable to what's going on now, but didn't have the negative impact that the current complainers fear. So the correct answer must reflect that the author uses the complaint of several centuries ago to undermine a complaint today and reach a different conclusion.

Answer choices

  1. A
    evidence supporting the claim Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer choice states that the old complaint supports the new complaint. However, we know that's not true both because of the structure of the argument, which sees the author pivot from the modern complaint, and because the content of the historical example doesn't help support the modern complaint.
  2. B
    an illustration of the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. There isn't a general hypothesis being advanced by the author with respect to intellectual abilities and communication, so this answer choice is out of scope.
  3. C
    an example of a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Correct. The centuries-old complaint was meant to undermine the modern complaint by pointing out that literacy was viewed as undermining intellectual abilities. That's clearly not true, and so the author uses it to call a similar, modern complaint into question.
  4. D
    evidence that the claim Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer choice is tempting, but there's a subtle difference between what the argument is saying and what this answer choice is. The argument is saying that electronic media is going to alter the human mind, which means that it accepts that there will be changes. Memory and extemporaneous eloquence, after all, went away because of literacy. The argument in the stimulus is over whether this change is a corrosion or an alteration, with the author taking the latter side. So the author does believe that intellectual skills might be lost but replaced by other ones.
  5. E
    possible evidence, mentioned and Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. First, the complaint of centuries ago isn't dismissed but rather forms the premise for the author's conclusion. Second, the modern complainers wouldn't use this historical example as support for their claim since it's a parallel that doesn't result in the outcome that they're predicting!

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 13%
  2. B 8%
  3. C Credited 56%
  4. D 16%
  5. E 7%

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