Logical reasoning PrepTest 133 · Section 3 · Question 14

Incorrect. Close, but a little off! The Council Member concludes that the shoe factory is a better shelter site than the courthouse. This isn't based on a lack of evidence against the shoe site being better, but rather a lack of evidence for the courthouse being better. A subtle difference, but enough to invalidate this answer.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Others - The courthouse is a better shelter site than the shoe factory
Council Member - They haven't offered any evidence of that
Conclusion - The shoe factory is a better shelter site than the courthouse

Answer Anticipation:
The Council Member here reaches the opposite conclusion as the other members of the council. What evidence does she use to back up her conclusion? None. Instead, she points out that the opposing point offers no evidence for their conclusion. While a shortcoming in an opposing point proves that they might be wrong, it doesn't prove they are wrong, so the opposite conclusion can't be drawn. This is a classic absence of evidence flaw—assuming that a bad argument for a conclusion means that the conclusion is wrong.

Answer Explanation:
This answer is the absence of evidence flaw we're looking for. The Council Member accepts that the shoe factory is a better shelter site than the courthouse because those who argue for the courthouse over the shoe factory "have provided no evidence" of that. The only reason offered for her conclusion is that the opposing view has offered no proof of theirs, so this answer is correct.

Key Takeaway:
Errors in Reasoning questions will frequently increase the difficulty by including multiple answers choices that sound like the flaw present—here, both (A) and (B) were variations on an absence of evidence flaw. When you run into that situation, take your time to match up the elements in the stimulus with the answer choice to find out which answer is correct.

This also highlights the importance of knowing these common errors in reasoning and the associated answer choices—if you're going to spend more time deciding between (A) and (B), you need to spend less time on (C)-(E)!

Incorrect. The Council Member does attack their argument—she says they've offered no evidence in support of their conclusion.

Incorrect. While the stimulus is about a shelter, there's no appeal to fear in it.

Incorrect. The Council Member notes that other members assert something to be true, so the evidence is that they do hold that view.