D is the answer.Quote:
Altogether, the students in Ms. Tarnowski’s Milton Elementary School class collected more aluminum cans than did the students in any of the school’s other classes. Therefore, the Milton student who collected the most aluminum cans was in Ms. Tarnowski’s class.
Which one of the following arguments contains flawed reasoning that is most parallel to that in the argument above?
Argument BreakdownConclusion: The Milton student who collected the most aluminum cans was in Ms. Tarnowski’s class.
Premise: Altogether, the students in Ms. Tarnowski’s Milton Elementary School class collected more aluminum cans than did the students in any of the school’s other classes.
The argument concludes that the student who collected the most cans was in Ms. Tarnowski's class based on the premise that the students in Ms. Tarnowski's class collected more cans than did the students in any of the school's other classes. This is flawed reasoning because it is possible that a student in any of the other classes could actually collect more cans compared to the student who collected the most cans in Ms. Tarnowski's class. Our task is to identify an answer option that has a similar flaw in its reasoning.
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(A) Altogether, more trees were planted by the students in Mr. Kelly’s class than were planted by those in Mr. Liang’s class and Mr. Jackson’s class combined. Therefore, Mr. Kelly’s students planted more trees than Mr. Jackson’s students planted.
Conclusion: Mr. Kelly's students planted more tress than Mr. Jackson's students.
Premise: Altogether, more trees were planted by the students in Mr. Kelly’s class than were planted by those in Mr. Liang’s class and Mr. Jackson’s class combined.
This argument is not flawed since the conclusion drawn from the premise given is valid. A can be eliminated.
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(B) More than half of Milton Elementary School’s students play in the band and more than half of the school’s students sing in the choir. Therefore, every student at Milton Elementary School either plays in the band or sings in the choir.
Conclusion: Every student either plays in the band or sings in the choir.
Premise: More than half of Milton Elementary School’s students play in the band and more than half of the school’s students sing in the choir.
This argument is not flawed as the conclusion drawn from the premise given above is valid. B can be eliminated.
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(C) Mr. Rowe’s Milton Elementary School class raised more money by selling candy bars than Ms Hunt’s class raised by holding a raffle. Therefore, the number of candy bars sold by Mr. Rowe’s class was greater than the number of raffle tickets sold by Ms. Hunt’s class.
Conclusion: The number of candy bars sold by Mr. Rowe’s class was greater than the number of raffle tickets sold by Ms. Hunt’s class.
Premise: Mr. Rowe’s Milton Elementary School class raised more money by selling candy bars than Ms Hunt’s class raised by holding a raffle.
This argument is flawed because we don't know the unit cost of a candy bar and raffle ticket. So, we cannot conclude that the amount of money raised by Mr. Rowe's class is more than that raised by Ms. Hunt's class. However, the flaw in C does not mimic that in the main argument above.
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(D) The total number of tickets to the school fair sold by the students in Ms. Ramirez’s Milton Elementary School class was greater than the number sold by Milton students from any other class. Therefore, the Milton student who sold the most tickets to the school fair was a student in Ms. Ramirez’s class.
Conclusion: The Milton student who sold the most tickets to the school fair was a student in Ms. Ramirez’s class.
Premise: The total number of tickets to the school fair sold by the students in Ms. Ramirez’s Milton Elementary School class was greater than the number sold by Milton students from any other class.
This argument is flawed and this is the right answer. The flaw in the reasoning mimics that in the main argument above. It erroneously concludes that the student who sold the most tickets was from Ms. Ramirez's class from the premise that the total number of tickets sold by the students in Ms. Ramirez's class was greater than that sold by students from any other class. The fact that Ms. Ramirez's students as a whole sold the most number of tickets does not mean that a student from any of the other classes did not sell more tickets than the student in Ms. Ramirez's class who sold the most number of tickets.
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(E) Ms. Ventura’s Milton Elementary School class assembled more birdhouses than did any of the school’s other classes. Since Ms Ventura’s class had fewer students than any other Milton class, her students assembled more birdhouse on average than did the students in any other Milton class.
Conclusion: The students in Ms. Ventura's class assembled more birdhouses than did the students in any other class.
Premise: Ms. Ventura’s Milton Elementary School class assembled more birdhouses than did any of the school’s other classes.
Premise: Ms. Ventura’s class had fewer students than any other Milton class.
This argument concludes that the students in Ms. Ventura's class assembled more birdhouses than did the students in any other class from the premises that Ms. Ventura's Milton Elementary School class assembled more birdhouses than did any of the school's other classes and that Ms. Ventura's class had fewer students than any other class. The conclusion in this argument is correctly drawn from the premises above, hence this argument is not flawed. E is thus not the right answer.