PrepTest 134, Section 3, Question 23
Most auto mechanics have extensive experience.(16 more words not shown)
The pattern of flawed reasoning(16 more words not shown)
- ADuring times of(28 more words not shown)
- BThe most common(31 more words not shown)
- CIt is not(31 more words not shown)
- DMost nature photographers(21 more words not shown)
- EMost snow-removal companies(32 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Most of one group, then most of a second group, doesn't automatically give us most of the original group.
Try a concrete possible case. There are one hundred auto mechanics, sixty have extensive experience, and forty of those sixty understand electronic circuits. Suppose those sixty are the only extensively experienced mechanics in this example, and nobody else understands circuits. Both premises are true: most auto mechanics are experienced, and most experienced mechanics understand circuits. Yet only forty of the hundred auto mechanics understand circuits. The conclusion is false.
The middle category matters. The first claim connects auto mechanics with experienced mechanics. The second connects experienced mechanics with understanding circuits. Two majority claims don't guarantee that enough people carry through both links to form a majority of the starting group.
What we’re looking for
We're looking for the same flawed chain in another setting: most of the first group belong to a second group, most of that second group have a further property, therefore most of the first group have that property. Match those roles, rather than just spotting the word most.
Working the answers
- A
Traffic increases alongside gas prices, and higher prices lead to more complaints. The conclusion attributes increased complaints to increased traffic. That involves a relationship between changes and a causal conclusion; it doesn't chain two majority statements across overlapping groups. The automobile topic doesn't supply our missing structure.
- B
Most common describes which bird species are prevalent; it doesn't mean that most birds belong to a stated group. The conclusion also concerns how few birds remain, rather than whether most members of a first group have a property carried through a second majority claim. The repeated word most conceals a different first step.
- C
The premise concerns drivers uninterested in speed and their tendency not to buy sports cars. The conclusion concerns who receives most speeding tickets. It doesn't give the two majority links we need: first group to second group, then second group to a further property. Interest in speed, car ownership, and actual ticket distribution are being connected differently.
- D
The first majority describes nature photographers' attitude toward portrait photography. The next describes portrait photographers' attitude toward photographing dignitaries. Portrait photographers aren't the people identified by the first claim as finding something boring. The answer switches whose preferences we're discussing, then transfers an attitude between them. That's different from carrying a majority through the same middle category.
- ECorrect
Snow-removal companies take the role of auto mechanics. Companies running summer lawn-care services take the role of experienced mechanics. Hiring extra summer workers takes the role of understanding circuits. The conclusion wrongly carries most through both links. For example, sixty of one hundred snow-removal companies could run lawn-care services, with only forty of those sixty hiring additional workers. Both majority premises could hold while most snow-removal companies do not hire extra workers.
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