Logical reasoning PrepTest 135 · Section 1 · Question 2

Question prompt

Florist: Some people like Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Main Point Questions

Stimulus Summary

People like to celebrate St. Patty’s Day with green flowers, but they’re rare and so hard to breed. White carnations are cheap and easy to dye green, so florists should stock up on them before the holiday.

Answer Anticipation

Wow, more difficulty than we’d expect from a question #2 Main Point question! There’s a clear conclusion indicator word in that third sentence, which would normally be the end of the story.
However, here, the following statement has a rare conclusion indicator word (“then” used in the sense of, “If the previous statement is true, then so is this conclusion.”) in a statement that makes a recommendation about what would be “wise” to do - two clear indicators that the statement is a conclusion. And since the indicator word here (“then”) makes clear the previous statement is supporting it, that must be the intermediate conclusion, with this statement serving as the main point.
The last statement (“which”) is also a premise backing that previous statement up, and the “Thus” statement makes more sense as support for the recommendation. All of which points to the main point being the recommendation for florists to stock up on white carnations ahead of St. Patty’s Day!

Answer choices

  1. A
    It is a good Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    This answer reflects the recommendation made by the Florist, backed up by the difficulty of getting green carnations and the ease of dying white carnations that color. It’s the main point of the argument.
  2. B
    Flowers that are naturally Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    That’s a fact, and one that’s used to back up how difficult it is to breed green carnations, so it’s a premise.
  3. C
    There are some people Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    This is background - the reason that the Florist is talking about green carnations to begin with.
  4. D
    White carnations are fairly Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This supports the conclusion that it’s better to stock up on these flowers and dye them green than to try to breed or buy green carnations.
  5. E
    It is very difficult Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    This is the intermediate conclusion, used to justify the wisdom of finding another way to satisfy the demand for green carnations.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 83%
  2. B 3%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 3%
  5. E 11%

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Discussion

  • Conclusion 3 replies

    Started by AndreaA

  • E 2 replies

    Started by #JW

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