Logical reasoning PrepTest 148 · Section 1 · Question 22

Incorrect. The stimulus establishes that Regis had a record-breaking year last year, and that they sold most of their new cars to Blomenville residents. However, this doesn't let us say that they sold more new cars in Blomenville than any other year. It's possible that they sold the Blomenville exclusively prior to last year, and so while their total sales went up with an expansion to other cities, the record-breaking year could have seen a minority of sales in other locations that more than made up for a decline in Blomenville sales.

Incorrect. The only record we know about is the sales record by Regis Motors. This doesn't let us make any inferences about the total new car market in Blomenville.

Incorrect. This answer is based on an invalid inference from that last statement. While Regist Motors sold only a minority of the new cars purchased in Blomenville, they still could have sold a plurality of new cars, beating out several competing companies.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Valid or Flawed:
N/A

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
Sold by Regis last year-most-New car bought by Blomenville resident
Regis Motors had personal record number of new car sales last year
New car bought by Blomenville resident-most-not Sold by Regis last year

Answer Anticipation:
While we used quantifier notation to diagram these out, there's no way to combine those statements. The second statement—Regis set a personal record for new car sales—also isn't conditional or a quantifier statement, so we're left with trying to make an inference without using our quantifier rules.

And while there's probably an inference we could make now about the relative size of some of these groups (cars sold by Regis, cars bought by residents of Blomenville), it's unclear what the correct answer might be, so let's head down with an understanding of the premises and work from there.

Answer Explanation:
If Regis Motors sold a minority of new cars to residents of Blomenville, but that made up a majority of their new car sales, then the total number of new cars purchased in the city must be higher than the total sold by Blomenville. If the same number is a minority of one group but a majority of another, the former group is bigger.

Key Takeaway:
Always looked for shared terms when making inferences. Here, the shared term was "new car bought by Blomenville resident." While our quantifier rules wouldn't let us make an inference, that shared concept was still key to getting to the correct answer here.

Incorrect. While Regis Motors broke a personal record for new cars sold, it's possible that all other companies did, as well—and did so at a larger margin than Regis did.