Logical reasoning PrepTest 129 · Section 2 · Question 17

Incorrect. This answer brings up a similarity between the two magazines.

Incorrect. This answer brings up a difference, but it's unclear if it's relevant to the success of the anthology. This is especially true because it shifts from discussing poets to poems—it's possible that the poets who had poems rejected from this magazine had other poems published, and The Brick rejected some of the poems from these poets despite publishing other poems by them.

Incorrect. Since we don't know what The Brick's policy is on payment, it's impossible to analyze what impact this answer has on the argument. However, if anything, it suggests that republishing the poems wouldn't cost much and thus an anthology might be more likely to provide funding, strengthening the argument.

Incorrect. This answer raises a relevant similarity between the two poetry magazines, thus strengthening the argument.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Weaken

Stimulus Summary:
The Brick Wall Review makes enough money from selling anthologies to cover expenses, and your magazine has similar poems, so you, too, could make money from an anthology of poems you already published.

Answer Anticipation:
This entire argument is reliant on a comparison—a comparison between The Brick Wall Review and the magazine that the Patron is making a recommendation to. The only reason that the Patron believes an anthology will provide a significant amount of funding to this magazine is that it does so for The Brick (as we assume it's referred to). The stimulus does note one similarity between the two magazines—the poems are similar—but it doesn't note any other similarities, and it doesn't note if the similarity of the poems is enough to determine the financial success of the anthology.

When an argument is based on two things being similar, it can be weakened by relevant differences. The correct answer should highlight a difference between this magazine and The Brick that calls into question whether an anthology released by this magazine would similarly provide a significant amount of funding. One potential answer is suggested by the stimulus—this magazine might not have the right to reprint the poems from their normal issues, and getting those rights might prove expensive enough to eat up the revenue from the anthology. Let's look for this answer while staying flexible in any answer that brings up a relevant difference.

Answer Explanation:
The Patron's conclusion is specifically about an anthology of poems "first printed in your magazine," so this answer establishing that The Brick's anthology has extra poems by favorite poets weakens the argument. It's possible these poems—the poems that wouldn't have comparable ones in this magazine's anthology—are what drive the sales of that anthology.

Key Takeaway:
When an argument relies on a comparison, answers tend to bring up relevant similarities or differences. Here, to weaken an argument that relied on two things being similar, the correct answer brought up a relevant difference. A relevant similarity would strengthen this argument.