Logical reasoning PrepTest 124 · Section 2 · Question 15

Incorrect. If managers make more money when they have more people, then that would explain why they wouldn't want to reduce their staff size.

Incorrect. If more staff means less work for the manager, then it makes sense they wouldn't want to fire people even when overstaffed.

Incorrect. If there's a downside to firing people, then that would explain why managers wouldn't want to do it.

Incorrect. If there's always the chance that the workload could go up a lot without warning, then it makes sense managers would want to keep more workers around in the case of that eventuality.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Bizarro Strengthen

Stimulus Summary:
Even when overstaffed, managers won't fire their own people.

Answer Anticipation:
Unlike most Strengthen questions, this one doesn't present an argument. Instead, we're given a claim that we need to find an explanation for—almost as if this were a Paradox question.

As such, anything that explains why managers would want to keep staff on despite having too many people will support the claim and can be eliminated in this Bizarro Strengthen question.

Answer Explanation:
This answer doesn't explain why managers wouldn't make this offer to their teams, so it doesn't support the claim in the stimulus and is thus correct.

Key Takeaway:
Some questions break the mold. While the question stem here definitely falls into the Strengthen category, the stimulus lacked an argument and instead presented a somewhat paradoxical claim. Don't get so wrapped up in this question breaking out of the standard expectations that you lose sight of the fact that you know how to handle it!