Logical reasoning PrepTest 135 · Section 4 · Question 17

Question prompt

Watching music videos from Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

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

Parallel Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

Anyone watching ‘70s music videos would think it was mostly synth-pop and punk. But music videos were new in the ‘70s, attracting cutting-edge artists, and so that view is misled.

Answer Anticipation

The conclusion here is very particular - a certain conclusion that one might draw is misled. Why is it misled? Because it’s based on a skewed source of evidence for the overall situation.
Since this argument isn’t based on conditional logic or a common method of reasoning, we’ll need to come up with an abstraction or generalization we can apply to the answer choices. Here, we should look for an answer that aligns with the stimulus by being structured to conform to a generalization like:
A conclusion that is based on incomplete and likely skewed evidence will be misleading.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Our view of pre–printing–press Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    The stimulus doesn’t conclude that something can “never be accurate,” just that looking at one thing will give a misleading impression.
  2. B
    Our memory of 1960s Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    The stimulus doesn’t conclude that a misinformed view of ‘70s music “could hardly be improved” - it could be if it weren’t informed solely by music videos.
  3. C
    Future generations' understanding of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    Here, the impression that a future generation gets of modern publishing trends will be distorted - matching with the “misleading impression - if it’s based just on CD-ROM - matching the condition from the stimulus of just watching music videos. This answer follows the same general structure and logic of the stimulus.
  4. D
    Our understanding of silent Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    While the stimulus concludes that an impression of ‘70s music might be incomplete, it’s conditioned on the person drawing that impression basing it only on music videos. This answer choice highlights that understanding of this time will be incomplete because certain evidence no longer exists, which doesn’t happen in the stimulus.
  5. E
    Our notion of fashion Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The stimulus is about getting a misleading impression from incomplete and skewed information, not an accurate one based on the same evidence. While a negated term by itself isn’t enough to throw out an answer, when it’s important to the logic, it is. Here, the answer conforms to a different generalization - “Looking at skewed and incomplete evidence can sometimes lead to a good conclusion.”

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 15%
  2. B 2%
  3. C Credited 76%
  4. D 3%
  5. E 5%

Deeper help

Ask follow-ups on any step

Optional AI tutor mode will let you interrogate assumptions, compare answers, and drill weak patterns without leaving the page.

Human-written explanations stay primary; AI is an add-on when you want it.

Discussion

  • Correct Answer 3 replies

    Started by jessicalange

View all discussions Start a discussion