Logical reasoning PrepTest 135 · Section 1 · Question 5

Question prompt

In its coverage of Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

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

Weaken Questions

Stimulus Summary

Phenomenon - A TV news program included twice as many interviews with people against a new freeway as for it
Explanation - The TV news program is biased against the freeway

Answer Anticipation

The argument here notes a phenomenon (twice as many interviewees with a certain position in a news program) and then an explanation for it (bias against the view with fewer interviewees).
Whenever an explanation is posed in a conclusion, we should start thinking about alternatives. Other than bias against the freeway, what might explain the higher number of interviews with people who have that opinion? Well, maybe twice as many people oppose the freeway, and thus the interview numbers were representative. Or maybe the news program is biased in favor of the freeway, and it overcorrected for that by including more interviews with those who have opposing points.
Any answer that calls into question whether the number of interviews is evidence of bias will serve as a correct answer here.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Most of the people Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    The knowledge of the viewers is out of scope of an argument about the program’s bias without a direct connection established between the two.
  2. B
    Most viewers of television Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    The argument doesn’t care about viewer expectations, just whether the news program is biased, so this answer is out of scope.
  3. C
    In the interviews, the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The argument relies on the numbers, not the passion, to highlight the bias, so this answer is out of scope.
  4. D
    Before the program aired, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem
    This answer highlights an alternative explanation for why there were twice as many interviews with people against the freeway as for it - there were twice as many people against the freeway as for it. The program wasn’t biased - they just found a representative sample of people.
  5. E
    The business interests of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    If anything, this explains why the news program might be biased against the freeway, thus supporting the argument.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 4%
  2. B 3%
  3. C 4%
  4. D Credited 85%
  5. E 4%

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