Logical reasoning PrepTest 133 · Section 3 · Question 20

Incorrect. This answer choice throws a conditional/additional constraint on the conclusion in limiting it to Vasani grants that go to academics. For this to be parallel, the conclusion would have to state that in the future, any Vasani grant is likely to go to an academic biologist.

Incorrect. There's no element of past/future here, so this answer isn't parallel.

Incorrect. The parallel conclusion here would be that the next editor they hire probably won't be sympathetic to farmers. This answer reverses the relationship from the premise, which doesn't happen in the stimulus.

Incorrect. While this answer does use something about the past to make an inference about the future, it talks about the same people from last year's contest. For that to be parallel, the stimulus would have to have the same proposal featured in both the premise and conclusion, but it talks about different proposals in each.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Parallel Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Most past proposals with the CL's endorsement have passed, so a future proposal with their endorsement will probably pass.

Answer Anticipation:
When a common error in reasoning shows up in a Parallel Reasoning question, we should focus on finding an answer that commits the same flaw. Yes, it isn't a Flawed Parallel Reasoning question, but if it features flawed logic, then the correct answer has to feature the same flawed logic.

Here, the argument uses what is true of the past to be true in the future. That's a classic error in reasoning, so let's find an answer that does the same thing, with particular attention to the logical force of the stimulus. The premise talks about something that happens "most" of the time, and the conclusion talks about a specific instance "probably" following that pattern.

Answer Explanation:
This answer jumps from what's true of "most" prior cases to concluding that a future case will "probably" fall into the pattern. That's the same flawed argument structure, so this is our answer.

Key Takeaway:
Parallel Reasoning questions with flaws are still Parallel Reasoning questions, which require a higher level of matching logic to be correct. That said, a first pass can focus just on the flawed logic, and most of the time, you'll end up with only 1 (maybe 2) answers left.