Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 1, Question 22 (Flaw)
Taking the test? Finish it first. This page shows the answer.
- Flaw questions ask you to name the reasoning error the argument commits, not to judge whether its conclusion is true.
- Before you read the choices, describe the argument's error in your own words. Most Flaw questions reward 1 of a small set of recurring patterns, so naming the pattern first keeps the trap answers from sounding right.
- Every question on this test is original, written to the same logical skeletons as real questions, and Steve checked every one himself before release.
The question
Cooperative manager: Every outlying beekeeper in our cooperative takes part in the bulk feed order, since no supplier will drive out to those roads, and roughly half of our in-town beekeepers take part in it as well. Some of the beekeepers who take part in the bulk feed order, among them several of our heaviest honey producers, also sit on the grading panel. So some of the beekeepers on the grading panel are outlying beekeepers and some are in-town beekeepers.
22. The cooperative manager's reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it
- (A)fails to rule out that the beekeepers who both take part in the bulk feed order and sit on the grading panel are drawn entirely from one of the 2 groups
- (B)assumes without warrant that outlying beekeepers sit on the grading panel in greater numbers than in-town beekeepers do
- (C)assumes without warrant that the cooperative's heaviest honey producers sit on the grading panel more often than lighter producers do
- (D)opens by using the phrase "take part" in one way and then lets the sense of that phrase slide illicitly
- (E)overlooks how many ways a beekeeper can fill the season besides sitting on the grading panel
AWhy (A) is correct
The manager notes that every outlying beekeeper joins the bulk feed order and about half the in-town beekeepers do too, then says some beekeepers who join the order, including several heavy honey producers, also sit on the grading panel, and concludes that some panel members are outlying beekeepers and some are in-town. Nothing rules out that the beekeepers who do both, join the order and sit on the panel, all come from just one of the 2 groups. If every one of them turned out to be an in-town beekeeper, say, the panel could hold no outlying beekeepers at all, and the conclusion would collapse.
Why the other answers are wrong
BWhy (B) is wrong
(B) has the argument leaning on outlying beekeepers outnumbering in-town beekeepers on the panel, but no such comparison of numbers appears anywhere in the reasoning.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) needs heavy honey producers to sit on the panel more than lighter producers do, and that comparison never enters the reasoning either.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) claims the phrase "take part" shifts meaning partway through, but it's used the same way, joining the bulk feed order, throughout.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) points to other ways a beekeeper might spend the season, but the conclusion only concerns who sits on the grading panel, so that's beside the point.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Flaw. Flaw questions ask you to name the reasoning error the argument commits, not to judge whether its conclusion is true.
How do I get better at Flaw questions?
Before you read the choices, describe the argument's error in your own words. Most Flaw questions reward 1 of a small set of recurring patterns, so naming the pattern first keeps the trap answers from sounding right. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
