PrepTest 130, Section 1, Question 7
Although many political candidates object to being made(35 more words not shown)
The pattern of flawed reasoning(13 more words not shown)
- AAlthough many people(17 more words not shown)
- BAlthough many actors(32 more words not shown)
- CAlthough many students(20 more words not shown)
- DAlthough many film(22 more words not shown)
- EAlthough many people(33 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
It's understandable that candidates dislike advertisements portraying them badly. But the author says those ads actually help: most elections have been won by candidates who were attacked that way.
What if nearly everyone running is attacked? Then winners could commonly have faced negative advertising even if the advertising did them no good. The same could be true of the losers. The ads might be a nearly unavoidable part of campaigning rather than a benefit that helps produce a win.
Think of saying that presidential winners have had eyes, so having eyes must be what helped them win. Pointing to a feature of the winners doesn't isolate a benefit if their unsuccessful opponents share that feature too. The issue isn't that the feature couldn't help; it's that this evidence hasn't shown that it does.
What we’re looking for
For the parallel-flaw question, look for an unwelcome experience declared helpful because it is common among those who succeed. We should be able to ask the same question: could it also be common among people who don't succeed?
Working the answers
- A
This directly offers a health benefit as a reason to exercise despite disliking it. It doesn't infer the benefit from the fact that most healthy people exercised. The dislike is similar, but the evidence establishing a benefit has a different form.
- BCorrect
Harsh reviews correspond to negative advertising, actors to candidates, and prestigious awards to election wins. The argument declares the unwelcome reviews helpful because most prestigious awards went to actors who had received them. But perhaps nearly every prominent actor receives a harsh review at some point, including actors who never win. The experience could accompany success without helping to produce it, just as negative ads could be common among winners and losers alike.
- C
Watch which group the evidence starts with. This says most students who study pass: start with the people doing the allegedly helpful thing, then ask how many succeed. Our original starts with the successful outcomes and says most went to people who were attacked. To match it, C would need evidence that most successful students had studied. C may leave other questions about studying's effect unanswered, but it doesn't make the same evidential move.
- D
Eager potential customers give a reason to expect a film to succeed. The argument doesn't look backward at successful films and find that most were disliked by critics. The critics' dislike therefore plays a different role from the negative advertising that the original claims helps its targets.
- E
Enjoying staying up late doesn't necessarily make the resulting sleepiness acceptable; someone could enjoy one and strongly dislike the other. But that is a different problem about preferences and consequences. E doesn't claim sleepiness is beneficial because most successful people experienced it.
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