Reading comp PrepTest 137 · Section 1 · Question 9

Incorrect. There's no discussion of enforcement or exceptions, so this answer is out of scope.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Use pool → Have membership
Sarah - Has membership
Therefore - Sarah uses the pool

Answer Anticipation:
This argument establishes a conditional rule ("must"), and then it establishes that Sarah meets the necessary condition of it. From that, it concludes she meets the sufficient condition. That's an illegal reversal, so let's find that answer!

Answer Explanation:
For Sarah to use the pool, she must have a membership. This argument uses the fact that she has a membership—something that's required for the conclusion to be true—as guaranteeing it is true. In other words, it confuses a necessary condition with a sufficient condition. This is the illegal reversal answer choice we're looking for.

Key Takeaway:
Knowing the common errors in reasoning and the answer choices that describe them can be very helpful in making quick eliminations. Also, almost every time there's conditional logic in an Errors in Reasoning question, that logic will be flawed, and usually with an illegal reversal or negation.

Incorrect. There's no false choice flaw here. Outside of the argument not discussing and ruling out alternatives, there are only two possibilities for each element—either Sarah does or does not have a membership, and she either does or doesn't swim on occasion.

Incorrect. The argument doesn't discuss if most members of the club swim, so this whole to part flaw is out of scope.

Incorrect. There's no premise that discusses whether Sarah swims, so this circular reasoning answer is incorrect.