PrepTest 117, Section 3, Question 22
Most people who shop for groceries no more(34 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(16 more words not shown)
- AIt is clear(26 more words not shown)
- BIt is clear(25 more words not shown)
- CIt is clear(22 more words not shown)
- DIt is clear(26 more words not shown)
- EIt is clear(25 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What if Hallstown is the exception?
I can see why people who shop infrequently might buy frozen dinners. Fresh food might not last between shopping trips. But the passage gives us a pattern among infrequent shoppers generally, then draws a conclusion about a particular town. We haven't been told what Hallstown's shoppers buy.
Most people in Hallstown are infrequent shoppers. They could still be unusual members of that group: perhaps those residents prefer fresh food and manage to make it last. The general majority doesn't force this town to behave the same way. It doesn't even establish that most of the town's infrequent shoppers buy frozen dinners, much less most people in the town.
What we’re looking for
The parallel flaw should make the same move. Look for a general “most” statement about one group, a town or other smaller group whose members mostly fall into it, and an unsupported conclusion that most people in that smaller group share the general tendency.
Working the answers
- A
Both the evidence and conclusion concern West Ansland. Few accidents and mostly minor accidents might suggest safe driving, but there could be other explanations, such as very little driving. Whatever problem that creates, it isn't our move from a general majority to a particular town's behavior.
- B
The family rule says that no family member who lacks a car can drive. John is the relevant family member, and he lacks a car, so that rule rules out his driving. This isn't a general tendency that John might be an exception to. Unlike “most,” “no one” leaves no exceptions within the stated group.
- C
Being able to drive and attending school doesn't tell us how someone gets to school. Fernando's friends might walk, or their parents might drive them. That's a gap between ability and actual behavior. There is no general pattern about most drivers being applied to a smaller group, as there is in the original.
- DCorrect
People who commute correspond to people who shop infrequently. Driving sedans corresponds to buying frozen dinners. Highland County corresponds to Hallstown. In each argument, most people in the broader category have a certain behavior, and most people in the named place belong to that category. The conclusion then assigns the behavior to most people in that place.
But Highland County could be unusual. Perhaps its commuters overwhelmingly drive sports cars. The overall fact that most commuters drive sedans could remain true because of commuters elsewhere. Just as Hallstown's shoppers could differ from infrequent shoppers generally, this county's commuters could differ from commuters generally.
- E
Janine accepts rides from most of her friends, and everyone she accepts a ride from is a good driver. So the friends she rides with form a majority, and all of that majority are good drivers. That establishes that most of her friends are good drivers. The rule about whom she rides with has no exceptions; it doesn't merely say most of her drivers are good.
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