Logical reasoning PrepTest 139 · Section 4 · Question 2

Incorrect. The stimulus notes that badly cracked paint could indicate water damage, which very well could be the result of harsh weather conditions, so this answer, if anything, runs counter to the stimulus.

Incorrect. The stimulus notes that acrylics are an excellent choice because they provide everything most homeowners need from paint, but there could be other paints that are equally excellent or even better because they, too, provide everything needed.

Incorrect. While acrylics can't correct for badly cracked paint, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be used to paint over that type of paint (maybe it improves appearance even if it doesn't fully fix it) or that it shouldn't be used to paint over certain paint that isn't cracked.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
Acrylic paints are excellent house paints because they meet all needs. They can't cover surface defects which show an underlying problem, though.

Answer Anticipation:
For early Must Be True questions that aren't conditional and don't have a lot of overlapping statements to drive towards inferences, it's important to cut through the extraneous information and dive right into the heart of the statements. Here, there were several examples ("such . . . as", "such as") which are just one potential expression of what the argument is actually discussing—surface defects and underlying problems. Minimizing that extraneous information that's unlikely to show up in a correct answer and likely to show up in a wrong answer (that treats the example as if it were the only type of, say, surface defect) will help us get to the correct answer efficiently.

With our summary streamlined, we can see that this stimulus is about the properties and limits of acrylic paints for painting a house. When we get a general description like we do here, a lot of the time, the correct answer will be a generalization. Here, the stimulus notes that acrylic paints are excellent house paints despite a shortcoming, so let's find an answer that reflects that.

Answer Explanation:
Acrylics are called an "excellent choice" for house paint despite being unable to correct for surface defects. As such, it must be true that this inability doesn't preclude acrylics from being house paints.

Key Takeaway:
When a Must Be True question doesn't have conditional logic, statements that clearly build together, or strong statements that lead to inferences, the correct answer is likely to generalize from the information provided.

Incorrect. Range of color isn't mentioned in the stimulus and is thus out of scope.