Self-study
Support No one wants this job as much as Joshua does, but he is not applying for it. ██ ███████ ████ █████ ████ ███ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ ██████ ███ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ██ █████ ████████
Method of Reasoning
The author concludes that there will not be any applicants for the job, no matter how desirable the salary. His reasoning is that Joshua wants it more than anyone, but isn’t applying.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The flaw in this reasoning is assuming that what’s true of the most interested candidate must necessarily be true for all other candidates. Perhaps Joshua would like to apply for this job, but he has to complete his degree first. If so, a candidate without such a conflict might still want to apply to the job, even if he’s less interested in it than Joshua is.
2.
The flawed reasoning in the ████████ █████ ████ ███████ █████████ ████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
a
Beth knows better ████ ██████ ████ ███ ██ ████ ██████ ██ █ ████████ ████████ ███ ████ ███ ███ ███ █████ ███ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ████ ██ ██ ██ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ███ ██ ██ ███ ████ ██ ███ ████████
This is the wrong flaw. (A) assumes that, if the best programmer hasn’t found any errors somewhere, there must not be any errors there. It fails to consider that the best programmer may still make mistakes. By contrast, the stimulus erroneously uses the most interested candidate to make an absolute judgment about all less interested candidates.
b
If anyone can ████████ ████ ████████████ ██ ██ █████████ █████████ ███ ███ ██ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ███ ████████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ██████████ ██ ████████ ███ ██ ████ ████ ██ █████ ██████████ ███ ██ ███ ██ ███ ██ ████ ██ ████ ███████ █████
There’s no flaw in this argument. The most qualified candidate is unavailable, so we would need a different candidate to proceed. By contrast, the stimulus erroneously uses the most interested candidate to make an absolute judgment about all less interested candidates.
c
Although he has ███ █████████ ██████ ██ ██████ ███ ██████ ██████ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ███████ ██████████ ██████████ ██ ███ ███ █ █████ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ███ █ █████ ██ █████
(C) concludes that no one will buy Anna’s land. The reasoning is that Manfred is the most interested potential buyer, but he will not buy the land. This is the same flaw as the stimulus: making an absolute assumption about all less interested candidates based on the most interested candidate.
In this case, perhaps Manfred has gone bankrupt. Other, solvent buyers might still be willing to purchase the land, even if they’re less interested in it than Manfred.
d
The person initially ████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ███ ███ ██████ ███ ██ ██ ███ ██████ ████████ ████████ ███ ████ ████ █████ █████ ██ ██████ ███ ███████████ ███ █████ ███████ ███ █████ ████ ████ ███ ████████ █████ ████████
This is the wrong flaw. (D) concludes that, without the most interested candidate, the other candidates will become more interested. The stimulus concludes that, because the most interested candidate isn’t applying, no other candidates will apply. Though both conclusions are unwarranted, they’re wholly distinct.
e
Three times Paul █████ ████ █████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ █ ███████ ████████ ███████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ███████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ███ █████████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████ █████████ ████ █████████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ ████████ █████
This is the wrong flaw. (E) concludes that increased seniority leads to increased personal constraints. But we have no indication that the constraint mentioned in the support was due to seniority. By contrast, the stimulus erroneously uses the most interested candidate to make an absolute judgment about all less interested candidates.