Logical reasoning PrepTest 132 · Section 2 · Question 17

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Sufficient Premise

Stimulus Summary:
not Health → not Happy
Therefore: You should never sacrifice health for money.

Answer Anticipation:
The argument itself doesn't have much to it! It's a quick premise and a quick conclusion that recommends against a trade-off.

Why does the author of this argument recommend that you don't sacrifice your health for money? Because without it, you can't be happy. However, there's no indication that happiness is more important than money! Without establishing what people should strive for (here, money or happiness), you can't say that someone shouldn't strive for money because it prevents happiness.

The correct answer will have to establish that happiness is more important than money, or that you shouldn't go after money if it's going to prevent happiness.

Answer Explanation:
If the pursuit of money would make happiness unobtainable, this answer establishes that it shouldn't be pursued. Since without health one can't be happy, this answer justifies the recommendation in the conclusion against sacrificing health for money.

Key Takeaway:
Sometimes, these questions with super-short arguments can be easy to get twisted up in. However, as with almost all Strengthen with Sufficient Premise questions, there's a new term in the conclusion that needs to be connected to a premise. Health shows up in both the premise and conclusion, so that connection should be between money and happiness.

Incorrect. The stimulus establishes health as a necessary condition for happiness, so this answer doesn't add anything to it (the necessary condition of this answer is already satisfied by health, so money doesn't need to factor in).

Incorrect. The stimulus only cares about health as it relates to happiness, so other reasons to value it are out of scope of the argument. This is trying to get you to start thinking about money and value as interchangeable, but they are not.

Incorrect. This answer is weaker than the argument—if anything, it's a necessary assumption.

Incorrect. This answer ranks health and wealth in how they impact happiness, but the argument relies on treating happiness as more important than wealth, so this answer doesn't "rank" the right concepts.