PrepTest 123, Section 2, Question 2
By Brandon Beaver | Published October 29, 2024
Type: Parallel Flaw
Difficulty:
Explanations
Haha no, this isn’t always how it works. Mixing one extreme with the other extreme does not always leave you with something in the middle. It definitely doesn’t always work that way with genetics.
I’m looking for an answer choice that commits the same flaw: Because X is on one end of the extremes, and Y is on the other end, mixing them together must give me something right in the middle.
A
No, this only gives one end of the extreme—it would need to say, “some students who do not study get bad grades.”
B
Yup, there it is. Type A chemicals are one end of the extreme—“extremely toxic”; type B chemicals are the other end—“nontoxic”. This does NOT mean that mixing the two makes the resulting solution only moderately toxic.
C
Nope. This is valid, so it must be wrong.
D
No. This is valid, like C. So it’s wrong.
E
Wrong again. This confuses sufficient for necessary, which is a totally different flaw.
Passage
All Labrador retrievers bark a great deal. All Saint Bernards bark infrequently. Each of Rosa's dogs is a cross between a Labrador retriever and a Saint Bernard. Therefore, Rosa's dogs are moderate barkers.
Question 2
Which one of the following uses flawed reasoning that most closely resembles the flawed reasoning used in the argument above?
All students who study diligently make good grades. But some students who do not study diligently also make good grades. Jane studies somewhat diligently. Therefore, Jane makes somewhat good grades.
All type A chemicals are extremely toxic to human beings. All type B chemicals are nontoxic to human beings. This household cleaner is a mixture of a type A chemical and a type B chemical. Therefore, this household cleaner is moderately toxic.
All students at Hanson School live in Green County. All students at Edwards School live in Winn County. Members of the Perry family attend both Hanson and Edwards. Therefore, some members of the Perry family live in Green County and some live in Winn County.
All transcriptionists know shorthand. All engineers know calculus. Bob has worked both as a transcriptionist and as an engineer. Therefore, Bob knows both shorthand and calculus.
All of Kenisha's dresses are very well made. All of Connie's dresses are very badly made. Half of the dresses in this closet are very well made, and half of them are very badly made. Therefore, half of the dresses in this closet are Kenisha's and half of them are Connie's.