Logical reasoning PrepTest 141 · Section 4 · Question 23

Incorrect. The principle isn't about whether or not someone's feelings would be hurt, so this answer is out of scope.

Incorrect. The principle is about what Shayna "believes" Daniel would prefer, so this answer about his actual preference is out of scope.

Incorrect. The principle is about a speaker's belief about what the person being spoken to would prefer, so Shayna's preferences on kindness vs. honesty are out of scope.

Incorrect. First, this answer is about feelings being hurt, not preferences, so it's out of scope. Additionally, it doesn't establish what Shayne does or doesn't believe about Daniel's preferences, so it's out of scope again!

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
Problem: Shayna congratulates Daniel → Misrepresent feelings
not Shayna congratulates Daniel → Hurt Daniel's feelings

Principle: not Think someone prefers kindness to honesty → Be sincere

Answer Anticipation:
This is an interesting question, so we should take a second to figure out what it's asking us to do. A problem is presented with two (and only two) courses of action—both of which have a certain outcome. The principle then establishes a rule about how someone should act ("should") in a situation. The correct answer will combine the principle and problem to arrive at a conclusion about what Shayna should do. Since we're using the information in the stimulus to justify reasoning in an answer choice, this is a Must Be True (Principle) question.

From there, it's a matter of diagramming out the problem and principle. Treating "except" as an "unless" statement (unless/until/without/except can all be treated as "if not"), we get the diagram from the summary. It's based on what someone "believes" the person they're speaking to would prefer, but the information in the problem section doesn't establish what Shayna thinks about Daniel's reaction to her potential congratulations. If she believes he wouldn't prefer kindness to honesty, then she should be sincere—and not congratulate him. If she doesn't think he'd prefer kindness to honesty, then the principle doesn't apply—so that situation is likely to feature in some trap answers!

Short version? Applying the principle to the situation, the correct answer will likely state that if Shayna doesn't think Daniel prefers kindness to honesty, she shouldn't congratulate him.

Answer Explanation:
Tricky! However, the sufficient condition of the principle is that a speaker doesn't believe the listener would prefer kindness to honesty—that's subtly different from believing the listener wouldn't prefer kindness to honesty. Since this answer states that Shayna has no opinion on Daniel's preferences, she doesn't think that he'd prefer kindness to honesty, and so the principle applies—establishing that Shayna should be sincere. According to the problem, that means she shouldn't congratulate him.

Key Takeaway:
Phew, quite a question.

First, when you get a non-traditional question such as this one, figure out what it's asking you first so you can make a plan of attack.

Second, make sure you get the conditionals right. "Unless" can be diagrammed as "if not," and "except," "without," and "until" used in a conditional context are the same.

Finally, be very careful about tricky negations in sufficient conditions. As we saw here, there can be subtle differences that can be lost in a diagram. This question's correct answer relied on you having a solid understanding of what the negation in the principle's sufficient condition meant.