Self-study
Support To use the pool at City Gym, one must have a membership there. █████ ███ █ ██████████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ████ █████████ ███ ███ ████ █████ ██ █████ █████████████
Argument Summary
The first sentence gives us a rule: to use the pool at City Gym, you must have a membership. The word "must" tells us that membership is a necessary condition for using the pool. No membership, no pool access.
The second sentence tells us that Sarah has a membership at City Gym. And from this, the author concludes that Sarah must use the pool at least occasionally.
Necessary ≠ Sufficient
The author confuses a necessary condition for using the pool with a sufficient condition. The premise tells us that membership is necessary for using the pool, but the author treats it as though membership is sufficient. Having a membership doesn't even guarantee you're allowed to use the pool. There could be additional requirements, like paying a separate pool fee or completing a swim test. And even if membership does give Sarah full access to the pool, that doesn't mean she actually uses it. She might have zero interest in swimming.
9.
The reasoning in the argument ██ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ████████
a
mistakes a policy ████ ██ ████████ ████████ ███ █ ██████ ██ █████ ██████████ ███ ████
The argument never suggests that the membership policy has exceptions. The flaw isn't about whether the policy is enforced loosely or strictly. The policy is clear: membership is required to use the pool.
b
treats a statement █████ █████ ██ ████████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██ ██ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ █ █████████ █████ █████ ███████ ████ ███ ██████████ ██ ████
This nails the flaw. Having a membership is a necessary condition for using the pool, but the author treats it as sufficient. The argument skips over two gaps. First, membership might not be all you need to use the pool. There could be additional requirements, like a separate pool fee. Second, even if Sarah has full access to the pool, that doesn't mean she actually uses it. She might have no interest in swimming. (B) captures this by pointing out that the author treats a necessary condition (membership) as though it guarantees the conclusion (Sarah uses the pool).
c
presumes that one ██ ███ █████ ██ ███ ████████████ ████ ██ ███ ████ ███████ ████████████ ████ ██ █████ ███████████ ██ ████████
The argument doesn't present two alternatives and then assume one of them must be true. The author simply goes from "Sarah has a membership" to "Sarah uses the pool," which is a necessary-sufficient confusion, not a false dilemma.
d
concludes that a ██████ ███ █ ███████ █████████ ██████ ███████ ████ ██████ ███████ ██ █ █████ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ ████ █████████
This describes a flaw where most members of a group have a trait, and the author concludes that a specific member must also have that trait. But the argument never says that most City Gym members use the pool. It says membership is required to use the pool, which is a different claim entirely. For (D) to be accurate, the argument would need to say something like "most City Gym members use the pool, and since Sarah is a City Gym member, she must use the pool too."
e
draws a conclusion ████ ██████ ████████ █ █████ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ ██████████
The conclusion (Sarah uses the pool) says something different from either premise. The first premise establishes a requirement for using the pool, and the second states that Sarah has a membership. Neither of those claims says Sarah actually uses the pool. Since the conclusion isn't just restating a premise, this isn't circular reasoning.