PrepTest 148, Section 4, Question 11
University spokesperson: Most of the students surveyed at(83 more words not shown)
The spokesperson's argument is most(8 more words not shown)
- Aoverlooks the possibility(21 more words not shown)
- Brelies on a(7 more words not shown)
- Coverlooks the possibility(23 more words not shown)
- Doverlooks the possibility(12 more words not shown)
- Eargues that a(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
'I want something different' doesn't mean 'I want Hall Dining.' What if Hall's food is even less popular than the current vendor's? Students might be imagining one of the other interested vendors without realizing those companies aren't available.
Think of a dinner choice. You say you'd rather go somewhere other than Taco Bell. Then you learn that Carl's Jr. is the only alternative. Maybe you'd choose Taco Bell after all. Your answer to the open-ended question doesn't settle your preference between those two options.
What we’re looking for
That's the problem with treating the survey as a vote for Hall. We can accept the rule about following the majority when other things are equal. But to use that rule here, we'd need to know that the majority actually prefers Hall to the current vendor. For the flaw, I'd look for the students' possible misunderstanding of the available choices.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The students might not have known that replacing the current vendor meant rehiring Hall. If they dislike Hall even more, their informed choice could be to keep the current vendor. The spokesperson has turned a preference for some alternative into a preference for this particular alternative without establishing that the students see those as the same choice.
- B
The passage doesn't tell us how the sample was selected or give a reason to think it was unrepresentative. Perhaps the survey accurately reflects the entire student body's desire for different food. The argument would still have the problem we identified: that desire doesn't tell us what they prefer when Hall is the only other option.
- C
The spokesperson qualifies the majority-preference rule with 'other things being equal' and says other reasons have narrowed the available vendors to one. The argument doesn't treat student preference as the only consideration in every decision. Its problem is assuming what the preference is in this particular choice.
- D
A majority needn't include everyone. Some students could disagree while the rule about following the majority still applied. We need to question whether Hall is what the majority wants, not insist that the students must be unanimous.
- E
The argument gives a qualified rule about respecting majority preferences, not simply an unsupported demand to do whatever is popular. More importantly, it hasn't established that hiring Hall would be popular. The specific flaw is the missing link between wanting a change and preferring the sole available replacement. Calling preferences popularity doesn't explain that gap.
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