Logical reasoning PrepTest 135 · Section 4 · Question 26

Question prompt

Because our club recruited Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

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

Errors in Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

We have the best players, so we’ll be the best team. Since the best team is most likely to win, we’re essentially a lock for the championship.

Answer Anticipation

Two flaws for the price of one! When there’s an intermediate conclusion, it’s important to look for flaws in both the jump from premise to intermediate conclusion, and intermediate conclusion/premises to main conclusion.
Here, the argument leading to the intermediate conclusion bases a conclusion about the team on the players. That’s a part-to-whole jump - just because the players are the best doesn’t mean the team will be the best (maybe egos will get in the way).
Then, the argument states that the best team is most likely to win, therefore they will almost certainly win. The premise is a relative assessment of likelihood, whereas the conclusion is an absolute assessment of likelihood. If there are, say, 16 teams in the league, then the team most likely to win might only have a 10% chance to win, with everyone else in single-digits. That’s a far cry from almost certain to win.
Either flaw could lead to a correct answer, so we need to be on the lookout for both.

Answer choices

  1. A
    presumes, without presenting relevant Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    The argument actually assumes that the team will be the best before the competition happens based on the skill of the players, so this answer is incorrect.
  2. B
    predicts the success of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    The skill of the players might not determine the skill of the team, but it’s certainly relevant to that skill (and to the outcomes of games/tournaments), so this answer choice is incorrect.
  3. C
    predicts the outcome of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    What else would you base that prediction on?
  4. D
    presumes, without providing warrant, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    So close! This answer describes a whole-to-part flaw, which is the opposite of the stimulus where a premise about the individual parts is used to draw a conclusion about the whole.
  5. E
    concludes that because an Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem
    This answer doesn’t discuss the part-to-whole flaw, but it does discuss the assumption made between the intermediate conclusion and main conclusion. The argument jumps from an outcome being the “most likely” to it being “almost certain[]” which is a paraphrase of “more likely than not” (which essentially just means likely). This jump from a relative probability to an absolute one is a flaw.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 11%
  2. B 14%
  3. C 28%
  4. D 21%
  5. E Credited 26%

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

View all discussions Start a discussion