Logical reasoning PrepTest 150 · Section 3 · Question 12

Incorrect. "Dealing with" the strains could mean minimizing infections, or it could mean treating them. The former interpretation would undermine the argument, and the latter wouldn't guarantee equal infection rates, so this answer can be eliminated.

Incorrect. Rare or not, it happened this year, but this answer still doesn't provide a connection between the number of strains and total infections.

Incorrect. While this answer might be appealing because it suggests that the new strains will be unmanageable and thus infect many people, it doesn't guarantee that. Additionally, it doesn't guarantee infections from the old strains won't go down enough to balance any increase in infections caused by the new strain.

Incorrect. Does dangerous mean more virulent, or more easily spread? Additionally, how many infections are being caused by the old flu virus strains? Without those pieces of information, it's impossible to tell if this answer choice bridges the gap to the conclusion.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Sufficient Premise

Stimulus Summary:
Flu strains from last year, plus a new one, are infecting people this year, so flu cases will go up.

Answer Anticipation:
The argument goes from a premise about the number of strains infecting people to concluding the total number of cases. This is a huge jump, as each strain could infect fewer people. The correct answer will establish that the larger number of strains will lead to a larger number of infections, but there are a large number of ways it could do that, so we should consider any answer that connects these ideas.

Answer Explanation:
This answer justifies the conclusion in a round-about way. It guarantees the same number of infections will result from the old strains of the virus, which would seem to suggest that there wouldn't be an increase. However, the argument already stated that a new strain has infected some people, so add those to the equivalent numbers from the strains that overlap with last year and you have more cases of the flu.

Key Takeaway:
If a Strengthen with Sufficient Premise question has an answer that can be interpreted in multiple ways, all of those interpretations have to lead to the conclusion for it to be the correct answer. This also means that an answer with neutral language (e.g., "affects" vs. "increases") is likely wrong.