PrepTest 146, Section 3, Question 13
Pollution is a problem wherever there are people(30 more words not shown)
The reasoning in which one(13 more words not shown)
- AAny dessert with(20 more words not shown)
- BEvery dessert with(21 more words not shown)
- CAny dessert that(25 more words not shown)
- DEvery dessert with(23 more words not shown)
- EAny dessert with(22 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Follow the connection through pollution. Where people are indifferent to the environment, pollution is a problem. Where pollution exists, nature's balance is harmed. Put the two claims together, and the places with indifferent people are places where nature's balance is harmed.
We might question how universally those claims hold in real life. Perhaps a very small community could be careless without producing enough waste to create a serious problem. But for this reasoning question, the statements are our starting rules. Once we accept them, the conclusion follows.
What we’re looking for
We need another argument with the same chain: the first condition gives us the second, and the second gives us the third. The conclusion then connects the first directly to the third. Check the direction of each step, not just whether all three ideas appear.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Having chocolate takes the place of indifference to the environment. Being high in calories takes the place of pollution. Being fattening takes the place of harm to nature's balance. Chocolate desserts are high in calories, and high-calorie desserts are fattening, so chocolate desserts are fattening. Each step follows the same direction as the original.
- B
Both chocolate desserts and fattening desserts are said to be high in calories. We need a rule taking us from high calories to being fattening, but the second premise goes from being fattening to high calories instead. Sharing the high-calorie description doesn't establish that every chocolate dessert is fattening. The chain doesn't connect.
- C
High calories lead to both chocolate and being fattening. But the conclusion starts with chocolate, and we have no rule saying that every chocolate dessert is high in calories. A chocolate dessert could fall outside the high-calorie group as these premises are written. The common starting condition is different from the original's linked steps.
- D
The premises give the right chain: chocolate leads to high calories, which leads to being fattening. But the conclusion runs back from fattening to chocolate. The original follows its chain forward. These premises leave room for fattening desserts without chocolate, so D draws a different, unsupported conclusion.
- E
The second step now covers only many high-calorie desserts. Those fattening high-calorie desserts could all be desserts without chocolate. Even though every chocolate dessert is high in calories, we haven't established that any chocolate dessert belongs to the fattening subgroup. The original uses a rule covering every case at both steps, so the connection is secure there.
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