Logical reasoning PrepTest 147 · Section 1 · Question 16

Incorrect. This answer concludes that it's important there be multiple topics of discussion, whereas thes stimulus was about it being good that one thing was a topic of discussion. Those don't align, so this isn't correct.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Illustration (Principle)

Stimulus Summary:
Situation Ð A faculty member falsified research and was uncovered
Media Ð That situation shows the university has low standards
Truth Ð A mere case of dishonesty
Shift to generalization Ð Vigilance in standards is necessary, so the focus on standards is good.

Answer Anticipation:
For these Principle (Illustration) questions, we need to understand the stimulus, generalize a principle from it, and then find an answer that conforms to that principle. The trick is to get a principle that's specific enough to apply to only the correct answer while general enough to account for the answer involving a different topic.

Here, there are a lot of moving parts, as we highlighted in the Summary. When that's the case, it's helpful to start with the conclusion—specifically here, the judgment.

The University President concludes that something is good. What is that something? A focus on standards. Why? Because a focus on standards is necessary. That serves as the core of the principle, but we can also include some of the background that led to it:

When a problematic situation arises, if it draws attention to something important, then it's good, even if it's misconstrued.

Note that the "even if" at the end reflects the President's contention that the problematic situation is a case of dishonesty, not low standards.

Answer Explanation:
Here, "oversight" matches with "low standards," and "simple corruption" to "mere dishonesty." The background situations match up. From there, the argument says that a certain focus is good ("welcome") because the misconstrued element (oversight/low standards) are important in their own right. This answer illustrates the same principle as the stimulus, and it's therefore correct.

Key Takeaway:
While you should anticipate a specific principle to apply to answers in Principle (Illustration) questions, it's important to also try to match up the elements of the answer to the elements of the stimulus. That can make it a lot easier to see if the answer illustrates the same principle while also increasing your accuracy.

Incorrect. This answer features two attributed causes of a scandal, and a conclusion that the scandal was good, not the discussion that followed. Those are two places the arguments aren't matched up and so they don't illustrate the same principle.

Incorrect. The conclusion here is about something being harmful—attribution of a cause to a scandal. Since the judgment in the conclusion doesn't match up (and it's about a different element of the situation), this answer is incorrect.

Incorrect. The conclusion here is that a focus on something is good because it played the "largest" role. In the stimulus, the President contended that the focus of the conversation wasn't the true cause of the scandal (low standards), so this answer isn't illustrating the same principle.