PrepTest 124, Section 1, Question 21
The trees always blossom in May if April(36 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(18 more words not shown)
- AIf the garlic(39 more words not shown)
- BThe jar reaches(46 more words not shown)
- CA book is(40 more words not shown)
- DThe mower will(29 more words not shown)
- EIf the kiln(33 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The reservoirs aren't full. That tells us something about the rain, but does it settle what the trees will do?
More than five centimeters of April rain guarantees two things: blossoms in May and full reservoirs on May 1. Since the reservoirs weren't full, that amount of rain cannot have fallen. Otherwise, the rule about the reservoirs would have been broken.
But maybe the trees can blossom after snow melts. Maybe a flood or the right temperature would do it. These are possible alternatives, not facts about these trees. The passage gives us one way to guarantee blossoms without saying it's the only way. Ruling out that rainfall doesn't rule out blossoms.
What we’re looking for
For the parallel flaw, keep the three roles straight. One starting condition guarantees two separate results. We learn that one result is absent, and the author incorrectly concludes that the other result must be absent too. A chain where one thing leads to a second and the second leads to a third would be a different structure.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Garlic in the pantry corresponds to the April rainfall. Fresh garlic corresponds to blossoms, and potatoes on the basement stairs correspond to full reservoirs. The pantry condition guarantees both results.
No potatoes on the stairs tells us the garlic isn't in the pantry. It doesn't tell us the garlic isn't fresh. What if it's perfectly fresh on the kitchen counter? Just as trees might blossom without that rainfall, garlic might stay fresh outside the pantry. This repeats both the structure and the mistake.
- B
This is a connected chain: two minutes over the burner leads to the optimal temperature, which leads to the contents liquefying. We are told the first step happened, so the final result follows. The original has two results of the same starting condition and incorrectly rules one out.
- C
Wooden type leads to being more than 200 years old, which leads to being classified special. If the book isn't special, it can't have been printed with wooden type under these rules. That reasoning works. Age is a middle link here, not a shared starting condition with two separate results.
- D
This is flawed, but differently. Pressing the pedal floods the engine, and a flooded engine prevents operation. Not pressing the pedal doesn't guarantee that the engine isn't flooded, much less that the mower will run. Perhaps it won't start for another reason. We have a chain whose starting condition is absent, not one missing result of two parallel rules.
- E
An overheated kiln would crack the plates, and cracked plates would require redoing the order. Since the order need not be redone, the kiln cannot have been too hot under those rules. Like C, this validly works back through a connected chain.
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