Self-paced
Support Many movies starring top actors will do well at the box office because Support the actors are already well known and have a loyal following. ██████ ████████ ███████ ██████ ███ █████████ ████████ ██ ██ █████
Method of Reasoning
The argument presents a cause-and-effect relationship—putting big stars in movies can cause the movies to make money. It then concludes that, if you take away the cause, you will likely take away the effect as well.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This argument features bad causal logic. Big stars might be one way for a movie to make money, but there could be other ways, too. Having a big budget, adapting a popular book, or choosing a certain genre could all help a movie make money.
We’re looking for an answer choice that has the same flaw of presenting one potential cause for a given effect, and then concluding that removing that cause will likely remove the effect as well.
14.
The flawed reasoning in the ████████ █████ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
a
Many animals must ██████ ████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ███ ██████ ████ ██ ████████ ███████ ██████ ███████ █████ ██ █████████ ████████ ████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ██████ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ████ █████ ████████ ███████ ██████ ██████ █████████ ████ ███ ██ ███████████
No flaw. (A) gives us a conditional statement that applies to some animals—if they don’t devote most of their energy to finding food, then they won’t maintain optimal energy levels. It then correctly reads this statement by showing that the sufficient condition leads to the necessary condition. We want an answer choice that features flawed causal logic instead, so (A) doesn’t match.
b
Often the presence ██ ███ ██████ ███ ████ ██ █ ██████ ████ ███████ ██████████ ████ █████████ ███ ██████ ███ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ████████ █████ ███ ███████ ████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ████████ ██████
(B) presents a cause-and-effect relationship—the flower bee balm can cause a garden to produce an abundant crop. It then concludes that, if you take away the cause, you will likely take away the effect as well. The stimulus also presents a cause-and-effect relationship and then concludes that removing the cause removes the effect, so (B) matches.
c
A person's ability ██ ████ ███████████ ██ █ █████ ████ ██ █████ █ ███████ █████ ██████████ ████ ██ ███████ ███████ █ ████ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████████████ █████ █ ████ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ █████████████ ██ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ ███████████
Wrong flaw. (C) tells us that the ability to keep secrets promotes openness in friendships, but this does not prove that openness is necessary for friendship. The stimulus, meanwhile, establishes a cause-and-effect relationship and concludes that removing the cause will likely remove the effect, so (C) doesn’t match.
d
Visual aids can ██ ████ ██████ ██ ███████████ ████████ ████ ███████ ███████ ████ █████████ █████ █████ █████████████████ ██ ████ ███████████ ██ ████ ██████ ████ ████ █████ █████████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ██████ █████ █████████ ██ ████ ██████████
Wrong conclusion. (D) is close, as it does give us a cause and effect relationship—visual aids can effectively teach math skills. Its conclusion says that removing the cause might sometimes remove the effect, whereas the stimulus concludes that removing the cause will likely remove the effect, so (D) doesn’t match.
e
An understanding of ███ █████ ██ ███████████ ██ █████████ ███ █████████ ███████ ██ █ ████████ █████ ██ ██ ███ █████████████ ██ █████ ████ █████ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ██████████████ █████ ████████ ████ ██ █████████████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███████████ ████ ███████ ████████
Wrong flaw. (E) gives us the conditional statement of—if successful painter, then understand perspective—then incorrectly concludes that the necessary condition leads to the sufficient condition. The stimulus, meanwhile, establishes a cause-and-effect relationship and concludes that removing the cause will likely remove the effect, so (E) doesn’t match.