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Explanations

PT113.S3.Q21

SECTION 1 · rc

PASSAGE 1
Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7

PASSAGE 2
Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13

PASSAGE 3
Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21

PASSAGE 4
Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25 Question 26

SECTION 2 · lr

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25 Question 26

SECTION 3 · lr

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24

SECTION 4 · lr

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25

PrepTest 113 - Section 3 - Question 21

Question

Explanation

Analytics

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Support Bank deposits are credited on the date of the transaction only when they are made before 3 P.M. Support Alicia knows that the bank deposit was made before 3 P.M. So, Conclusion Alicia knows that the bank deposit was credited on the date of the transaction.

Method of Reasoning

Since bank deposits are credited on the same day as the transaction only when the transaction is before 3 p.m., and Alicia knows the deposit was before 3 p.m., Alicia knows the deposit was credited on the same date as the transaction.

Identify and Describe Flaw

There are two flaws in this argument. The first is a cookie-cutter “confusing necessary and sufficient conditions” flaw. Bank deposits are only credited on the date of the transaction when the transaction was before 3 p.m. In Alicia’s case, the deposit was before 3 p.m. Was the transaction credited on the date of the transaction? We don’t know. Just because the necessary condition (that the transaction was before 3 p.m.) was confirmed, that doesn’t mean the sufficient condition (that the deposit was credited on the same day as the transaction) was confirmed.

The second flaw is a cookie-cutter “belief v. facts” flaw. The argument says that “Alicia knows” the bank deposit was credited on the day of the transaction because the transaction was before 3 p.m. How do we know what Alicia knows? We don’t. She may be unaware that transactions completed before 3 p.m. may be credited on the day of the transaction.

Analysis by MatthewSorrels

Show answer

21.

Which one of the following ████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ █████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████

Journalists are the ████ ████ ███ ████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ███████████ █████ ████████ ██ █ ███████████ ███ ████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████

(A) contains the “confusing necessary and sufficient conditions” flaw (that since only journalists will be permitted to ask questions, Marjorie will be permitted). However, (A) is missing the “belief v. facts” flaw.

We know that ███████ █████ ████ ██ █████████ █████ ██ █████████ ██ ██ ███████ ████ ███████ ██ ███████ ██████

(B) contains the “confusing necessary and sufficient conditions” flaw (that since Patrice only works on Thursday, and today is Thursday, Patrice is working). However, (B) is missing the “belief v. facts” flaw.

It is clear ████ ██████ █████ ██ ████ ██ ████████ ██ █████ ███████████ ███████ ██████ ████ ██ ████████ ██ █████ ██████████ ████ ██ █████ ████████ ███ ██████ █████ █████ ████ ███████

The argument starts with the “belief v. facts” flaw (that George knows he’ll be promoted), then moves to the “confusing necessary and sufficient conditions” flaw (that George will be promoted only if Helen resigns, and he knows Helen will resign, so George will be promoted). (C) commits both of the same flaws as the argument in the stimulus.

John believes that █ ██ █ █████ ██████ ███ ████ █ ██ █████████ ██ ██ █████ ████ ████████ ████ █████ ██ █ █████ ██████ █████████ ██ ██

(D) contains the “belief v. facts” flaw (that since John believes 4 is a prime number and that 4 is divisible by 2, John must believe that there’s a prime number divisible by 2). However, (D) is missing the “confusing necessary and sufficient conditions” flaw.

Pat wants to ██████ █ ██████ ███████ ██ ██ ████ █████ ████ ██████ ███████ ███ ██████ █████ ███ ██████████ █████ ██ ██ ██████ █████

(E) contains the “belief v. facts” flaw (that since it’s well known that social workers are poorly paid, and Pat wants to become a social worker, Pat must want to be poorly paid). However, (E) is missing the “confusing necessary and sufficient conditions” flaw.

Difficulty

Question

56% of people who answer get this correct

This is a very difficult question.

CURVE

Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right

25% 151

163

75% 175

Analysis

Question Stem Tags

Parallel flawed method of reasoning

Stems that tell us the stimulus will exhibit flawed reasoning, then ask us to identify the answer choice that preserves that flaw. Learn more.

Stimulus Tags

Conditional reasoning

Stimuli that feature conditional and set logic (e.g. A → B, A is true, therefore B is true). Learn more.

Confusing sufficiency and necessity

Arguments that misinterpret conditional claims (A → B), either reversing them (B → A) or inverting them (/B → /A) to draw an invalid conclusion. Learn more.

Mental state v. reality

Stimuli that feature a jump from a claim about reality to a claim about mental state (or vice versa) in a way that informs our evaluation of the answer choices. Learn more.

Answer Popularity

Popularity Avg. score

12%

163

28%

163

56%

168

158

162

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