Logical reasoning PrepTest 123 · Section 2 · Question 20

Question prompt

Gamba: Muñoz claims that Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

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

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Valid

Question Type

Methods of Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

M claims that the city opposes a new water system based on the vote of the Neighbors Association. But only 25/350 voted, and the 15 nos are less than 1% of the overall population. That's too few people to be guaranteed a representative sample.

Answer Anticipation

G points out a classic error in reasoning made by M—he relies on a sample that is too small. When an argument relies on pointing out one of these common flaws in someone else's argument, there's a good chance the language in the answer is going to match up with how that flaw would be described in an Errors in Reasoning answer.

Answer choices

  1. A
    questioning a conclusion based Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. G never brings up that those who oppose the new water system are more likely to vote for it. Instead, she relies on pointing out the small sample size. This answer would be correct in, for example, an argument where G pointed out that the people who would be impacted by the new water system's construction banded together to increase turnout among that group to stop the system.
  2. B
    questioning a claim supported Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    Incorrect. There's no accusations that the statistical data has been manipulated. In fact, G very much agrees with the data coming out from the vote. However, G thinks the vote was too small to guarantee a representative sample.
  3. C
    attempting to refute an Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. M cites the vote as evidence of citywide opposition, not as conclusive proof that there is citywide opposition. Since M never claims that his premises guarantee the truth of his conclusion, this answer choice doesn't reflect the stimulus and is thus wrong.
  4. D
    criticizing a view on Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. The evidence is a vote. G and M both seem to agree on the outcome of the vote. There are possibly minutes from the meeting, and people who can testify to the vote. It's not impossible to confirm or disconfirm this evidence, so this answer is wrong.
  5. E
    attempting to cast doubt Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem
    Correct. G points out, right at the end of her rebuttal, that one "should not assume that so few votes" are representative of the city as a whole. This answer choice is a paraphrase of that statement, and it represents how G goes about undermining M's argument.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 9%
  2. B 10%
  3. C 10%
  4. D 4%
  5. E Credited 67%

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