June 2007 PrepTest, Section 2, Question 20
By Brandon Beaver | Published October 29, 2024
Type: Reasoning
Difficulty:
Explanations
This is an excellent argument. Gamba takes a premise (“the Southwest Hopeville Neighbors Association overwhelmingly opposes the new water system”) and deflates it like a balloon. Gamba explains why that premise barely supports the conclusion, and thus concludes that the conclusion was poorly reasoned.
A
Certain views aren’t mentioned.
B
No, Gamba doesn’t say, “don’t ever trust statistical data.” Gamba just says that the way this particular data is used is misleading.
C
Muñoz never claimed that the conclusion is proven.
D
No, it’s well established that “there is citywide opposition” can be disconfirmed.
E
Yeah—awkwardly worded, but that’s what Gamba did. Gamba didn’t claim the conclusion was wrong; Gamba just casted doubt. Gamba did this by showing how the statistical sample the conclusion used for support, the Southwest Hopeville Neighbors Association vote, was way too small (the opposing votes represented only 1% of the city’s population).
Passage
Gamba: Muñoz claims that the Southwest Hopeville Neighbors
Question 20
Of the following, which one most accurately describes Gamba'