Logical reasoning PrepTest 126 · Section 3 · Question 17

Question prompt

Real estate agent: Upon Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Principle Questions / Strengthen Questions

Stimulus Summary

Home sellers can legally remove large appliances, but many buyers assume they’re included, so sellers who are keeping their appliances are morally obligated to remove them before showing the home or informing buyers of this.

Answer Anticipation

Principles (Strengthen) questions task us with justifying a judgment in the conclusion based on the details in the premises. It’s usually best to start by identifying this judgment and then working backwards to find which details the author of the argument is relying on to prove that point.
Here, the judgment in the conclusion is that sellers who are keeping their large appliances have a moral obligation to either remove them before showing the house to buyers or letting the buyers know that those appliances aren’t included with the house.
Why? Well, legally, the sellers are allowed to keep those appliances, but that doesn’t support that they have a moral obligation to inform buyers. Instead, the Agent is basing the moral obligation on the assumption of the buyers - they assume that these large appliances are included with the house.
The correct answer, then, should connect these ideas:
If buyers would assume that something is included with the house, then sellers have a moral obligation to either remove those items before showing the house or informing buyers that they’re not included.

Answer choices

  1. A
    If a home's sellers Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    This answer aligns with the argument, allowing for a conclusion about a moral obligation to be drawn. It can feel as if it’s missing a part of the conclusion - that one option for sellers is to remove those items. But it actually covers that - if the items are removed, then buyers wouldn’t see those items in the home and thus wouldn’t assume they’re included. So this answer establishes a moral obligation on the part of the sellers that aligns with the stimulus, and it is therefore the correct answer.
  2. B
    A home's sellers are Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    This answer gets into the legalese of what’s a permanent fixture. What’s key is that the buyers aren’t misled to thinking items are included that aren’t; buyers may not know that permanent fixtures are included, and so this answer doesn’t justify the conclusion.
  3. C
    A home's sellers are Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The conclusion talks of a moral obligation to prevent buyers from being misled, not to actually include any items with the sale of the house.
  4. D
    A home's sellers are Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The stimulus is less about sellers who are deliberately misleading prospective buyers than about buyers who form opinions that are misleading. Since the stimulus never calls any of the actions by the sellers deliberate, this answer is out of scope.
  5. E
    If a home's sellers Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The stimulus doesn’t deal with a situation where the sellers state that an appliance is included, so this answer is out of scope.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 72%
  2. B 7%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 15%
  5. E 5%

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