PrepTest 134, Section 2, Question 17
People want to be instantly and intuitively liked.(28 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(10 more words not shown)
- APeople who act(4 more words not shown)
- BImprudent people act(3 more words not shown)
- CPeople resent those(4 more words not shown)
- DPeople who are(7 more words not shown)
- EIt is imprudent(6 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Imagine meeting a new teacher and saying, “I'm going to wait a month or two before deciding whether I like you.” That might be a careful approach. It might also make the teacher feel rejected. People often want to be liked right away, rather than feel that they're still being investigated.
The passage says people who seem to form opinions only after carefully gathering evidence are generally resented. That's the connection to appearing prudent: prudent means careful or sensible in exercising judgment. But the conclusion calls appearing this way imprudent, or unwise. Why does being resented make a choice unwise?
What we’re looking for
That's the missing link. For the conclusion to follow, connect the social consequence to that judgment: causing people to resent you is imprudent. Then appearing careful leads to resentment, and provoking that resentment supplies the reason the author calls it unwise. The point concerns how the cautious person comes across, not whether careful thinking is always a bad idea.
Working the answers
- A
Being spontaneous might make someone well liked. That doesn't establish that appearing cautious is imprudent. More than one way of behaving could be sensible, and A never connects resentment with the negative judgment in the conclusion.
- B
This tells us how imprudent people act. We need a reason to classify appearing prudent as imprudent. Knowing that imprudent people act instantly and intuitively doesn't show that someone who appears to weigh evidence carefully is acting unwisely. The answer doesn't connect the resentment in the premise to the conclusion.
- C
This compares how prudent two people actually are. The passage instead concerns how someone appears when forming opinions of others. Even if people resent those less prudent than themselves, we still need a reason to call provoking resentment imprudent. C supplies a different possible source of resentment and leaves the needed judgment unexplained.
- D
Knowing instantly whether you like someone doesn't tell us whether appearing cautious is wise. The argument isn't trying to explain how intuitive people recognize their own preferences. It is drawing a judgment about behavior that makes other people resent you.
- ECorrect
The premise connects appearing prudent with being resented. E says causing people to resent you is imprudent. Put them together, and we have the author's intended route: appearing prudent produces a reaction that makes that appearance imprudent.
The wording sounds paradoxical only because being prudent and appearing prudent play different roles. Carefully forming an opinion may be sensible in itself, while showing everyone that you are withholding judgment can have a social cost. E supplies the rule that turns that cost into the conclusion.
More Sufficient Assumption questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Sufficient Assumption questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.