Logical reasoning PrepTest 123 · Section 3 · Question 16

Question prompt

Philosopher:  Nations are not literally 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

Facts

Question Type

Argument Completion Questions / Sufficient & Necessary Questions

Stimulus Summary

Nations aren't literally persons, in that they don't feel things, so they can't have rights/responsibilities. However, if citizens believe their nations don't have rights/responsibilities, the nation won't survive because the people won't sacrifice for it. So . . .

Answer Anticipation

Argument Completion questions generally present two ideas and then bring them together in the conclusion. Here, the two ideas are that nations aren't actually people, but their survival depends on citizens believing that they are. Bringing those together, the argument is leading to a conclusion about a nation requiring people to believe something that isn't true in order to survive.

Answer choices

  1. A
    cannot continue to exist Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Incorrect. The argument quite clearly states that nothing else can motivate these sacrifices, so this answer choice contradicts the premises.
  2. B
    cannot survive unless many Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    Correct. This answer choice reflects the combination of the two "threads" of this argument. Nations aren't people, but they require citizens to believe they are. In other words, they rely on their citizens believing something that is false for survival, which is what this answer choice states.
  3. C
    can never be a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer choice is out of scope by bringing up praise/blame, and it ignores the entire discussion of the citizenry. In general, correct answers to Argument Completion questions will deal with the entirety of the stimulus, not just parts of it.
  4. D
    is not worth the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer choice is out of scope by bringing up a judgment call of whether the nation is worthy of the sacrifices. While it may not be a person, the Philosopher never provides information on how to determine whether these sacrifices are worth it of the citizens, so this statement can't complete the argument.
  5. E
    should always be thought Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Incorrect. This answer choice talks about what 'should' happen, and brings up metaphorical terms, both of which are out of the scope of the argument. While metaphorical might be an antonym of literal, it would be hard to reach a conclusion about "always" thinking of a nation this way without a premise using similar language (both in strength and content).

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 35%
  2. B Credited 27%
  3. C 11%
  4. D 3%
  5. E 25%

Deeper help

Ask follow-ups on any step

Optional AI tutor mode will let you interrogate assumptions, compare answers, and drill weak patterns without leaving the page.

Human-written explanations stay primary; AI is an add-on when you want it.

Discussion

  • explanation 1 reply

    Started by RS1

View all discussions Start a discussion