Logical reasoning PrepTest 146 · Section 3 · Question 13

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Valid

Question Type:
Parallel Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
People indifferent to environment → Pollution
Pollution → Nature's balance harmed
Therefore: People indifferent to environment → Nature's balance harmed

Answer Anticipation:
This argument presents two conditional premises that chain together to form a valid conditional conclusion. The correct answer should follow the same pattern:

A → B
B → C
Therefore: A → C

Answer Explanation:
Dessert with chocolate → High in calories
High in calories → Fattening
Therefore: Dessert with chocolate → Fattening
Right off the bat we get our answer!

Key Takeaway:
As you develop your conditional skills, you should start to be able to notice answers in Parallel Reasoning questions that don't line up with the stimulus without needing to diagram them out. Here, answers (B) and (C) had shared terms on the same side of the arrow, and you should practice until you can make that determination without diagramming those statements out!

Incorrect. These two conditional premises share a necessary condition, so they won't chain together.

Incorrect. The two conditional premises here share a sufficient condition, so they won't chain together.

Incorrect. So close! The conclusion here is an illegal reversal, however, so it's flawed:
Dessert with chocolate → High in calories
High in calories → Fattening
Therefore: Fattening → Dessert with chocolate

Incorrect. The second statement here isn't conditional—it has a quantifier (many/some).