Unplugged Practice Test: Logical Reasoning Set 2, Question 4 (Parallel Reasoning)
Taking the test? Finish it first. This page shows the answer.
- Parallel Reasoning questions ask you to match the argument's structure.
- Strip the argument down to its skeleton and ignore the topic. Then find the choice with the same skeleton and the same strength of conclusion.
- 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
The avionics specialist who went over every altimeter in the flight school's fleet last month reported that all of them read true. The specialist stands to gain nothing whichever way the finding goes, so we ought to doubt the club newsletter's claim that those altimeters are off.
4. The argument above uses reasoning most similar to the reasoning in which one of the arguments below?
- (A)Vasquez, a stamp scholar with no stake in the sale, tells us that the sheets in the album are common reprints. So we should doubt Ardley's claim to have turned up rare originals, since Vasquez studied the sheets at length.
- (B)My archery coach says that drawing a bow will not strain the elbow if the form is right. Since I follow the form my coach showed me on every shot, an elbow strain is something I can rule out.
- (C)The technician on the payroll of the company that services the building's elevator has looked it over and pronounced it safe. This technician is the only person who has looked at the elevator closely in years. So we should regard the elevator as safe.
- (D)The appraiser who went through the estate's inventory said the paintings are forgeries. Although a rival auction house paid for the review, the verdict that the paintings are forgeries deserves acceptance, since appraisers do not let allegiances color findings that later reviews will expose.
- (E)The agent who books cruise packages predicts that fares will climb sharply next quarter, but since the agent profits from that prediction, we can set the claim aside.
AWhy (A) is correct
The argument's shape is this. Someone with nothing riding on the outcome examines the thing itself and reports one finding, and that is offered as the reason to distrust the other side's competing claim about the same thing. The specialist checked every altimeter directly, stands to gain nothing either way, and found them accurate, so the newsletter's contrary claim deserves doubt. (A) matches that shape piece for piece: Vasquez, a stamp scholar with no stake in the sale, studied the sheets directly and found them common reprints, so Ardley's rival claim of rare originals deserves doubt.
Why the other answers are wrong
BWhy (B) is wrong
(B) is about what the speaker's own form predicts for the speaker's own elbow, with no unbiased outsider judging a rival's competing claim.
CWhy (C) is wrong
(C) has a technician paid by the very company that services the elevator, so there's no unbiased examiner, and no second claim is being doubted.
DWhy (D) is wrong
(D) has a biased appraiser whose verdict the argument endorses anyway because a later review will catch any dishonesty, which accepts a claim despite bias rather than distrusting a competing claim on the strength of an unbiased one.
EWhy (E) is wrong
(E) simply dismisses a self-interested agent's prediction outright, with no direct examination and no opposing claim in the picture.
Common questions
What type of question is this?
Parallel Reasoning. Parallel Reasoning questions ask you to match the argument's structure.
How do I get better at Parallel Reasoning questions?
Strip the argument down to its skeleton and ignore the topic. Then find the choice with the same skeleton and the same strength of conclusion. The free LSAT cheat sheet lists the wrong-answer patterns to watch for on every type.
