PrepTest 127, Section 1, Question 22
Only a minority of those who engage in(27 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(12 more words not shown)
- AMost scholars are(24 more words not shown)
- BOnly foolish politicians(16 more words not shown)
- CSome corporations only(24 more words not shown)
- DSome parents show(33 more words not shown)
- EOnly a small(26 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
We know something about the people who engage in political action: only a minority act from a sense of social justice. Others may act for money, personal advantage, or some other reason. The statement is about their motivation for participating, not necessarily whether they have any sense of social justice at all.
Then the conclusion moves outside that group. It says some people with a sense of social justice do not participate in political action. How do we know those people exist?
Imagine that everyone who has a sense of social justice is politically active. Within the politically active group, only a small share need be acting because of that sense. The rest could have different motives. The premise could still be true, while the conclusion about people outside the group would be false.
What we’re looking for
For the parallel flaw, look for the same move: a statement about how few members of a group act from a particular desire, followed by a claim that some people with that desire must lie outside the group. Keep the group, the motivation, and the unsupported outside members straight.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Scholars take the place of people engaged in political action. Being motivated by the desire for academic prizes takes the place of acting from a sense of social justice. “Most scholars are not motivated” tells us that the motivated scholars form a minority, just as in the original.
Then the conclusion makes the same unsupported move: some people who want prizes must be outside the scholar group. But everyone who wants those prizes could be a scholar. And, as in the original, wanting something is not identical to being motivated by it in one's activity. A preserves the group, the motivational claim about its members, and the unjustified claim about people outside it.
- B
This gives a rule about politicians who disregard voters: only foolish politicians do so. It then decides what sort of representation most voters deserve. That is a jump from a description of politicians' behavior to a judgment about voters' deserts, not a claim that some people with a motivation must fall outside a group.
- C
Some corporations pretending to care about the environment does not establish that no corporation genuinely cares. This expands from some insincere cases to a claim about every corporation. The original instead moves from a minority's motivation within one group to the existence of people outside that group.
- D
Uninterested parents are used to justify disregarding parents' wishes in some curriculum decisions. That moves from a fact about some people's interest to a recommendation about decision making. It does not infer that people possessing a particular concern exist outside the parent group.
- E
The premise divides profits according to their sources; the conclusion predicts whether badly managed companies will usually make a profit. A small share of profits being attributable to good management does not have the same structure as a minority of group members having a particular motivation. E then changes to a claim about companies' success, rather than locating some people outside the original group.
More Parallel Flaw questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Parallel Flaw questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.