Logical reasoning PrepTest 143 · Section 3 · Question 21

Incorrect. This answer might serve to strengthen an argument ruling out a place as the point of origin, but the argument tries to do the inverse, so this answer doesn't help.

Incorrect. First, what people believe will rarely affect a conclusion about what is true. Second, if anything, their belief calls the conclusion into question—if it became popular in Paraguay when a lot of people were moving to Paraguay, it suggests that maté migrated with these people to Paraguay and thus it originated somewhere else.

Incorrect. An answer about what people believe to be true will rarely affect an argument about what is true. Additionally, there's no indication that a beverage's point of origin is generally associated with where it's best made.

Incorrect. This answer can be tempting since it seems to suggest a South American point of origin—but it doesn't actually do that! It's possible that maté's point of origin is in a location where it isn't regularly consumed, so this answer doesn't limit the potential point of origin.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen

Stimulus Summary:
There are more varieties of maté and it's more widely consumed in Paraguay than anywhere else, so it probably originated there.

Answer Anticipation:
The argument sets out to resolve a question suggested in the stimulus—where was maté first made?

The argument doesn't have any definitive proof, and it therefore only concludes that Paraguay is "likely" the origination point. Why? Because there are more varieties of maté there, and it's more widely consumed.

However, the argument never provides any reason to believe that either of those two factors are relevant in determining where a beverage originated. It's possible that these two things are true of the place that has most recently discovered the drink, as it's still novel and exciting.

Because the argument assumes that these two metrics—varieties, consumption—are relevant in determining where something originated without establishing that to be the case, the correct answer should connect at least one of those metrics to the country of origin.

Answer Explanation:
This answer directly connects how long something has been consumed in an area to how widely consumed it is. Since Paraguay consumes maté more widely than any other country, this answer suggests that they likely have been consuming it for longer than any other country, thus making it the point of origin and strengthening the conclusion.

Key Takeaway:
The correct answer here is tricky because it talks about how long a beverage has been consumed in a location, not a point of origin. However, one way of defining the point of origin is the place where something has existed the longest, and so the ideas are related—definitely related enough to provide some support for each other.