PT140.S1.Q23

PrepTest 140 - Section 1 - Question 23

Show summary

Support If the prosecutor wanted to charge Frank with embezzlement, then Frank would already have been indicted. ███ █████ ███ ███ ████ █████████ ██ ███████ █████ ██ ███ ██ ██████████

Method of Reasoning

The author concludes that Frank is not an embezzler. He supports this statement by saying that if the prosecutor wanted to charge Frank with embezzlement, Frank would have been indicted. Since Frank has not been indicted, the author draws their conclusion that he is not an embezzler.

Identify and Describe Flaw

A prosecutor wanting to charge Frank with embezzlement is not the same thing as whether or not Frank committed embezzlement. The author’s premises only dealt with whether or not the prosecutor wanted to charge Frank for embezzlement, but he concludes that Frank is not guilty of the crime. Frank could very well be guilty of embezzlement, and the prosecutor may not want to charge him just yet for a number of reasons. Without support for whether or not Frank actually committed embezzlement, the author’s conclusion about Frank’s innocence is unsupported.

Show answer
23.

The flawed pattern of reasoning █████████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████

a

If Rosita knew ████ ███ ████ ███████████ █████ ███████ ███ █████ ███ ████ ██ ██ ████ █████ ██████ ███ ███ ███ ████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ████ █████ ███ ████ ███████████ █████ ███████

b

If Barry had ███ ███ ████████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███ █████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ████████ ██ ██ ████ ██ ██ ██ ████ ██████

c

If Makoto believed ████ ██ ████ ███ ████ ███ ██ █████ ████ █████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███ █████ ███ ████ ███

d

If Tamara believed ███ ███ ███████ █ ██████████ ███ █████ ████ ██ ██ ████ ██████ ███ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███ ██ ███████ █ ██████████

e

If Lucy believed ███ ███ █████ ██ ██ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ████ ██ ██ ████ ██████ ███ ██ █████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ ███████ ███ ████ ███ ██ ██████ ██ ██████

Confirm action

Are you sure?