PrepTest 158, Section 2, Question 22
Devan has never bothered to be kind to(25 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(14 more words not shown)
- AEach officer of(40 more words not shown)
- BIn order to(45 more words not shown)
- CThis book has(24 more words not shown)
- DA decision in(41 more words not shown)
- EIf everyone were(39 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Maybe Devan is just a stranger.
He hasn't been kind, helpful, or companionable toward the speaker. Let's accept that he hasn't met the listed criteria for friendship. Why does that make him an enemy? Most people I don't know haven't offered me help or companionship either. That doesn't mean they're against me.
The argument treats friend and enemy as the only options. A neutral acquaintance or a stranger falls between them. Even if we've ruled out friendship, we haven't established hostility.
What we’re looking for
For the parallel flaw, look for the same jump between extremes: something doesn't belong to one category, so it must belong to the opposite category. A good match will leave out a middle possibility. An argument can misuse a rule in some other way and still be wrong for a different reason.
Working the answers
- A
This argument overlooks the special-qualifications option. Evelyn doesn't have two years of membership and isn't on a committee, but she might have those qualifications. So the listed information doesn't rule her out as an officer.
That's a flaw, but it isn't the friend-or-enemy mistake. A misses an alternative way to qualify for the same position. It doesn't move from failing to qualify as an officer to putting Evelyn in an opposite category, corresponding to “enemy.” Keep the actual mistake separate from the fact that both arguments mention criteria.
- B
Sun and regular watering are stated requirements for thriving. The plant lacks both, so it makes sense to use those missing conditions to explain why it isn't as healthy as it should be. B doesn't conclude that the plant must be dead. That stronger jump might leave out a plant that's alive but struggling, but the answer doesn't make it.
- CCorrect
No hostile review doesn't mean every critic loved the book. A critic might think it was ordinary, uneven, or fine but unremarkable. Picture a three-star review: neither an attack nor an expression of love.
The original goes from “not a friend” to “an enemy,” leaving out neutrality. C goes from “not hostile” to “loving,” again leaving out neutrality. The direction between the extremes is reversed, but the underlying mistake is the same: one extreme is absent, so the other is assumed.
- D
This concerns whether an acceptable development option might be carried out. It doesn't divide the possibilities into two opposing categories and assume that ruling out one establishes the other. Whatever questions we might have about moving from acceptability to possible development, that isn't the missing-middle mistake we're matching.
- E
Everyone having one of those occupations is presented as one condition that would bring society to a halt. Its absence doesn't guarantee society keeps functioning. A major disaster could stop society for a completely different reason.
E treats one sufficient cause of collapse as if it were the only possible cause. The original doesn't identify a cause and then rule it out. It improperly sorts Devan into an opposite category after deciding he isn't a friend. C matches that specific move.
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