PrepTest 126, Section 4, Question 24
Advertisement: Our oat bran cereal is the only(76 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(19 more words not shown)
- AGreeting one's coworkers(35 more words not shown)
- BThis card game(34 more words not shown)
- CWhen coffee is(39 more words not shown)
- DThat jacket must(36 more words not shown)
- EThis painting is(39 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Buying the cereal doesn't prove the claims on its package are true. People can fall for marketing, even when they're trying to eat well.
The advertisement tries to answer that concern by calling the buyers genuinely health-conscious: people like that wouldn't buy the cereal unless its claims were accurate. But how do we know these buyers qualify? The advertisement sends us back to their purchase of supposedly accurately labeled food.
We keep going around the same circle. The claims are accurate because health-conscious people buy the cereal, and the buyers are health-conscious because they choose cereal with accurate claims. Neither point receives an independent basis.
What we’re looking for
For the parallel-flaw question, look for the same two-way dependence: a product gets its supposed quality from the people choosing it, while those people's supposed quality is established by their choice of that very product. Another weak argument won't be enough; we want that circle.
Working the answers
- A
The evidence that these people are polite comes from their conduct in daily life, not just the greeting we're trying to evaluate. Perhaps they are courteous in stores or considerate in traffic. We might still question how well this establishes the conclusion, but it offers a broader basis for judging the people. It doesn't send us straight back to the same greeting as its only proof.
- BCorrect
The game is supposedly challenging because intelligent people play it, and we supposedly know the players are intelligent because they play this game. The challenging game takes the place of the cereal with accurate health claims; the intelligent players take the place of the health-conscious buyers. Each claim leans on the other, with no independent evidence to get the reasoning started.
- C
The taste test supplies separate evidence of the buyers' ability to distinguish coffees. It doesn't say we know their taste is highly developed merely because they choose Brand Z. To match the circle, choosing Brand Z would need to be the proof of the very expertise used to recommend Brand Z.
- D
Their height was observed before they tried on the jacket. That is a separate basis for calling them short; the argument doesn't establish their shortness solely from fitting this jacket. The original keeps using the same purchase to support both linked claims.
- E
Mistaking flowers for a peacock gives a separate reason to question their eyesight. The argument doesn't rely solely on mistaking this painting for the original to establish their poor vision. Whether the additional evidence fully justifies the conclusion is another question. It prevents the argument from making the same circle as B.
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