Logical reasoning PrepTest 146 · Section 3 · Question 22

Incorrect. Seniority is out of scope, as is Maples' history. The rule in the stimulus is about what party someone is a member of, not how long they've been a member or what party they used to be a member of. Since this answer is out of scope, it very well could be true!

Incorrect. The stimulus doesn't establish any rules or premises about the relative capabilities of the members of the Traditionalist Party compared to each other, so Tannett very well could be the best of the bunch.

Incorrect. The beliefs of the residents are unmentioned and thus could be anything, including a general belief that Maples would be worse than Tannett as mayor.

Incorrect. Similar to (B), the stimulus provides no way to assess intraparty mayoral capability, so this very well could be true and the Modern Party nominated their worst candidate.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Cannot Be True (NOT Bizarro Must Be True)

Stimulus Summary:
Maples (MP) would be a better mayor than Tannett (TP)
Member of Modern Party → Better qualified for mayor than each Traditionalist Party member

Answer Anticipation:
This stimulus provides one direct comparison, and then a general rule that allows a comparison to be drawn between any member of the Modern Party and any member of the Traditionalist Party. Since this general rule can be applied in a variety of situations, it's likely to be what leads us to the correct answer—especially since it allows for the specific comparison in the stimulus to be drawn.

The question stem tells us that each answer could be true except one, the correct answer. This means that the correct answer Cannot Be True—in other words, it needs to directly contradict information from the stimulus. So an answer that violates the general rule provided would bring up a member of the Traditionalist Party and assert that they're more qualified to be mayor than a member of the Modern Party.

Answer Explanation:
The stimulus establishes a rule—any member of the Modern Party is better qualified than any member of the Traditionalist Party. That means Tannett, as a member of the Traditionalist Party, must be less qualified than every member of the Modern Party—including the Chairperson. This answer is therefore directly contradicted by the information in the stimulus and is correct.

Key Takeaway:
In Cannot Be True questions, the correct answer needs to contradict given information. If a general rule is presented, it's likely to be the element of the stimulus that's contradicted, and the correct answer will likely be a counterexample to it.