Logical reasoning PrepTest 145 · Section 4 · Question 1

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
Grenier went from not supporting a hike in the city's employees's wages to supporting it, saying she learned more about the issue. But voters will think she's insincere, so she'll probably lose the mayoral election.

Answer Anticipation:
Strengthen (Principle) questions are all about connecting the judgment in the conclusion to the details in the premises. Here, the Pundit concludes that Grenier will lose her election. Why? The voters will find her insincere because of her changing position on raising the city's employees's wages. So the correct answer should establish that voters viewing a candidate as insincere will almost certainly result in them losing an election.

Answer Explanation:
And right off the bat, we get an answer that matches our anticipation. If voters are unlikely to vote for someone they view as insincere, and they're likely to view Grenier as insincere because of her changing position, then this answer justifies the conclusion that she's likely to lose the mayoral election.

Key Takeaway:
For Strengthen (Principle) questions, sometimes the shorter your summary of the stimulus, the better equipped you are for finding the correct answer. Here, if you summarized the stimulus as "Insincere, so lose election," you would have been in great shape.

Incorrect. The argument relies on people noticing Grenier's changing stance on city employee wages, so this answer cuts against the argument.

Incorrect. The stimulus never establishes what the voters' current position is.

Incorrect. The stimulus is about the policy towards the city employees's wages, so there's no guarantee other people (the majority of whom presumably don't work for the city) view a politician's position on this as reflecting anything about understanding their financial concerns.

Incorrect. There's no indication of the voters's opinion on raising the city's employees's wages, and the stimulus says the perceived insincerity is coming from Gernier's changing position on the topic.