Self-study
Support YXK is currently the television network with the highest overall number of viewers. █████ █████ █████████ █████ ███ ███ ███████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ █████ █████████ ███ ████ ███████ ████ ███ █████ ███████ ██ ███████████
Method of Reasoning
The argument begins by comparing sets, showing that one set has the most of something (among all TV networks, YXK has the most viewers). Then it compares members within that set (among YXK’s shows, Bliss has the most viewers). Finally, it concludes by comparing a member of that set to members of other sets (among all TV shows, Bliss has the most viewers).
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is a cookie-cutter whole-to-part flaw. The support is about whole sets (TV networks), while the conclusion is about the individual members of those sets (TV shows). But the number of viewers of a network as a whole doesn’t tell us whether one TV show in that network has the most viewers of any show. It’s possible that a show on a different network is the show with the most viewers, even though YXK is the network with the most viewers. YXK might just have a larger number of shows with fewer viewers each.
23.
The flawed reasoning exhibited by ███ ████████ █████ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
a
Soccer players suffer ████ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ ████ ███ █████ ████████ ██ ████ ███████████ █████ ██████ ███ ████████ ████ ███ ████████ ████ ███ █████ ██████ ██████ ██ ████ ███████████ █████ █████ ██████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ██████████ ███ ███ ████████ ███ ████ ███ █████████
The argument begins by comparing sets, showing that one set has the most of something (among all sports, soccer has the most leg injuries). Then it compares members of that set (among all soccer players, Linda has had the most leg injuries). Finally, it concludes by comparing a member of that set to members of other sets (among all athletes, Linda has had the most leg injuries). This is the same whole-to-part flaw. Just because soccer has the most leg injuries doesn’t mean a soccer player has more than any other athlete.
b
Teachers at our ██████ ████ ███ ████ ████████ ███████ ██ ████████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ██ ████ █████ █████ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██ █████ █████ ██ ███ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████
Wrong flaw. This starts by comparing sets (schools) and then notes that one member of a set (Janna) has the most awards of any member of any of the sets. It then compares Janna to the other members of her set, concluding that she is the best. The stimulus, meanwhile, compares sets, then compares one member of a set to other members of that same set, and then shifts to a conclusion that compares members across different sets.
c
The Olson Motor ███████ ████████████ ███ █████ ████████████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ █████ █████ █████████ ████████████ ██████ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████████████ █████ ██ ███ ████████
No flaw. This establishes that Olson makes the three best-selling models in the country. If the Decade is Olson’s best-selling model, then it must also be the best-selling model in the country (since Olson makes the best-selling models in the country).
d
In this city ███ ████████████ ██████ ███████ █████ ████ ████ ███ ████████████ ████████████ ███ ███ ███████████ ██████ ███████ █████ ████ ████ ███ ███████████ ████████████ ██ ██ ████ ████ ██████ ████████ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ████ ████████████ ███
Wrong flaw. This starts by comparing individual members across two sets (the highest- and lowest-paid police officers and the highest-and lowest-paid firefighters). It then shifts to a conclusion about the sets as a whole (police officers earn more, on average, than firefighters). (D) draws a conclusion about the whole from an argument about individual parts, while the stimulus draws a conclusion about a part from an argument about the whole.
e
Falling Fast is ███ ████ ████ ██ █████████ ███████ ███ ████ ██ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ████ ██████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █████████ ███ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ████ █████████ ██ ███████ ████ ██ ████████ ███ ████ ████ ██ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ █████████
Wrong flaw. This starts by comparing one member of a set (Falling Fast) to other members of that same set (other films). It then draws a conclusion about that member based on a general characteristic of the most successful films. This assumes that the film earning most at the box office is also the most successful film. The stimulus, meanwhile, starts by comparing multiple sets and then draws a conclusion that compares an individual member of one set to members of all the sets.