Logical reasoning PrepTest 127 · Section 3 · Question 10

Incorrect. The Promoter doesn't attack the critics based on an emotional appeal, instead raising a metric that she believes counters their claim.

Incorrect. This is a very tempting answer. However, the Promoter doesn't assume that merch sales is the "sole" indicator of popular appeal—just one reliable indicator. That'd be like saying someone arguing that the ground is wet so it must have rained is assuming that a wet ground is the only indicator of rain.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Critics: This concert series lacks popular appeal.

Promoter: We made as much from merch sales as comparable series, so we have popular appeal.

Answer Anticipation:
The Promoter's argument rests solely on the comparison between her concert series and comparable concert series.

Usually, when an argument rests on a comparison, the flaw is that it doesn't establish that the two things being compared are sufficiently similar on relevant metrics. However, in this case, the Promoter specifically talks about "comparable" series and states that their merch sales are "equal to or greater" than them.

However, there are two related issues there. The Critics's argument isn't about merch—it's about popular appeal. Therefore, in pointing to merch sales, the Promoter is assuming that those sales are related to popular appeal. It could be, instead, that this concert series has a much smaller appeal, but the die-hard fans who go to it spend a lot more money on merch.

The other issue is that the Promoter compares their merch sales to other concert series, but she doesn't establish that those series are themselves popular. Even if we accept merch sales as a proxy for popular appeal, selling more than an unbelievably unpopular concert series wouldn't mean much. It'd be like saying that dirt tastes better than garbage, so therefore it must be delicious.

Let's find an answer highlighting this gap between relative merch sales and absolute popular appeal.

Answer Explanation:
This answer highlights the jump from the relative premise (merch sales "equal to or greater than" other series) to the absolute conclusion (it has popular appeal, not as much or more popular appeal). It is therefore the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
This argument relied on a comparison to draw the conclusion, which usually suggests that the argument is flawed in that the compared situations are different in some key way. However, that's not the only flaw associated with an argument relying on a similarity. The argument could also be jumping between the comparison to an absolute conclusion (which is what led us to the correct answer here).

Incorrect. The Promoter specifically notes that she's talking about "comparable" series, so they're not dissimilar.

Incorrect. The argument always discusses the concerts as a group/series, not as individuals, so this answer is incorrect.