Logical reasoning PrepTest 135 · Section 4 · Question 11

Question prompt

Rolanda: The house on 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/Argument/Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed/Flawed/Valid

Question Type

Errors in Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

R: Oak house has the biggest yard we’ve seen, so it’s the best to rent.
T: 20ft. of each property actually belongs to the city, so the yard is smaller than it looks, and Oak house isn’t the best to rent.
R: That’s true of every house, so you’re rebuttal doesn’t address my issue.

Answer Anticipation

First, note that the question asks us to find an error in reasoning that Rolanda’s response to Tom suggests - so if there are other flaws, those are immaterial.
Rolanda is making a comparative argument - Oak house’s yard is bigger than the other houses’ yards, and so it is the better house to rent. Tom brings up an issue that disputes the size of Oak house’s yard, but it’s a consideration that applies equally to all houses they’ve looked at in the city. If each house has the same 20ft. carved out of it, then the initial comparison Rolanda made about yard size still stands. Tom applies this rule that is true of each house to only the one house Rolanda is talking about, and Rolanda calls him out on it (“that’s true of all…”), so the correct answer should highlight this shortcoming.

Answer choices

  1. A
    He fails to take Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Both Rolanda and Tom are ignoring the possibility that they’d be better off with a house with a smaller yard, but that’s not what Rolanda’s response points out, so this answer doesn’t address the question stem - instead, it addresses a flaw in both of their arguments.
  2. B
    He presumes, without providing Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    If anything, Tom is assuming that that property isn’t available for their use since he uses its presence to argue against the yard being as big as it seems. Additionally, this isn’t something that Rolanda touches on in her response.
  3. C
    He improperly applies a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    There is a generalization - the city owns 20ft. of each yard - but Tom improperly doesn’t apply it to an instance it is intended to cover.
  4. D
    He fails to apply Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem
    Rolanda’s initial argument is one that compares all the houses they looked at - it has the biggest yard. Tom rebuts this by pointing out that the yard is smaller than it looks because every yard has 20ft. carved out that’s owned by the city. Well, if Oak house’s yard is bigger than the others, and every house has that space carved out, then Oak house’s yard is still bigger than the others. Tom applies something true of all houses to just the one he is discussing with Yolanda, so he fails to apply a general rule (all houses actually have 20ft. carved out) to all relevant instances (each house being compared).
  5. E
    He presumes, without providing Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The generalization in this case applies to each house individually, so Tom doesn’t commit a part-to-whole flaw. (And Rolanda doesn’t call him out for it).

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 2%
  2. B 2%
  3. C 8%
  4. D Credited 83%
  5. E 5%

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