Logical reasoning PrepTest 148 · Section 3 · Question 19

Incorrect. Ana disagrees with this. Pankaj doesn't weigh in on what is and isn't the government's business since he doesn't state whether he agrees with the smoking ban. At most, he implies that it would be acceptable for the government to ban something that hurts others, which means this answer is out of scope of his statements.

Incorrect. Pankaj doesn't discuss libertarian principles, so this answer is out of scope of his argument. Ana uses libertarian principles to argue against government policy, so she would likely agree with this.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument/Facts

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed/NA

Question Type:
Point at Issue

Stimulus Summary:
A: The government shouldn't stop people from hurting only themselves, so I oppose a smoking ban.

P: The ban only applies in public.

Answer Anticipation:
Pankaj never states his opinion on the smoking ban. Instead, he brings up a fact about the ban to highlight a limitation on it that he believes Ana doesn't take into account. He pivots away from something in Ana's argument ("But . . . ") without talking about whether the ban is a good idea, so he must be objecting to her premise.

Ana's premise is that the government shouldn't stop people from hurting only themselves, implying that smoking only hurts the smoker. Pankaj pivots from this by bringing up that the ban only applies in public, thus implying that he believes public smoking hurts people other than the smoker. The correct answer will likely highlight this disagreement.

Answer Explanation:
Ana opposes the smoking ban because it's not the government's job to protect people from themselves, so she'd agree with this. Pankaj, in disagreeing with Ana's premise, suggests that public smoking harms others, thus disagreeing with this statement.

Key Takeaway:
When the second speaker immediately pivots ("But . . . ") it's important to note what portion of the first speaker's argument they are pivoting away from. Identifying if it's the premise or conclusion, or the argument as a whole, is key to determining what the point at issue is between the two.

Incorrect. Ana doesn't get into the specifics of the legislation, so this answer is out of scope for her argument.

Incorrect. Pankaj doesn't talk about what the government should do, so this answer is out of scope of his argument.