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Attorney: I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting

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Attorney: I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting [#permalink] New post 19 Feb 2010, 06:07
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40% (02:11) correct 60% (02:03) wrong based on 0 sessions
Attorney: I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting Mr. Jackson. Regrettably, there were no eyewitnesses to the crime, but Mr. Smith has a violent character. Ms. Lopez testified earlier that Mr. Smith, shouting loudly, had threatened her. Smith never refuted this testimony.
The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that
(A) aggressive behavior is not a sure indicator of a violent character
(B) Smith’s testimony is unreliable since he is loud and aggressive
(C) since Smith never disproved the claim that he threatened Lopez, he did in fact threaten her
(D) Lopez’s testimony is reliable since she is neither loud nor aggressive
(E) having a violent character is not necessarily associated with the commission of violent crimes

good question.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 19 Feb 2010, 08:27
I'll choose E
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 19 Feb 2010, 08:58
IMO E too
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 19 Feb 2010, 12:21
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SudiptoGmat wrote:
Attorney: I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting Mr. Jackson. Regrettably, there were no eyewitnesses to the crime, but Mr. Smith has a violent character. Ms. Lopez testified earlier that Mr. Smith, shouting loudly, had threatened her. Smith never refuted this testimony.
The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that
(A) aggressive behavior is not a sure indicator of a violent character
(B) Smith’s testimony is unreliable since he is loud and aggressive
(C) since Smith never disproved the claim that he threatened Lopez, he did in fact threaten her
(D) Lopez’s testimony is reliable since she is neither loud nor aggressive
(E) having a violent character is not necessarily associated with the commission of violent crimes

good question.


Ms Lopez testified against Smith and he never refuted the testimony. So since smith never disproved the claim, he did in fact threaten her......this may or may not be true. This is the assumption based on which the attorney is requesting Smith to be found guilty. I think in that sense, C should be the answer.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 19 Feb 2010, 12:39
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I have chose E too but OA is C. C is more powerful.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 19 Feb 2010, 14:23
let's look more closely at the question:

The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that . . .

It means that we should find faulty assumption in attorneys line of reasoning. (E) by itself may be true but that's not what attorney's argument reasons.

Attorney's conclusion: Mr. Smith has a violent character
Attorney's evidence: Ms. Lopez testified earlier that Mr. Smith, shouting loudly, had threatened her. Smith never refuted this testimony.

Obviously, attorney assumes, that

Quote:
since Smith never disproved the claim that he threatened Lopez, he did in fact threaten her


(C)
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 19 Feb 2010, 22:44
It would have been better to have OE as I still believe E is better
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 19 Feb 2010, 23:26
SudiptoGmat wrote:
Attorney: I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting Mr. Jackson. Regrettably, there were no eyewitnesses to the crime, but Mr. Smith has a violent character. Ms. Lopez testified earlier that Mr. Smith, shouting loudly, had threatened her. Smith never refuted this testimony.
The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that
(A) aggressive behavior is not a sure indicator of a violent character
(B) Smith’s testimony is unreliable since he is loud and aggressive
(C) since Smith never disproved the claim that he threatened Lopez, he did in fact threaten her
(D) Lopez’s testimony is reliable since she is neither loud nor aggressive
(E) having a violent character is not necessarily associated with the commission of violent crimes

good question.


What's the source? Good question.

I'm voting for C.

Question : The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that
a - not mentioned
b - makes no sense, does not connect
d - out of scope
e - I would have picked this, if this was just a Weakening question.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 20 Feb 2010, 04:16
Its a LSAT question little tougher than typical GMAT question. E is not the right answer. Most of you guys have given right logic. I have initially stumbled and later understood why C is the answer. Good job guys. You all rock.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 20 Feb 2010, 04:21
SudiptoGmat wrote:
Attorney: I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting Mr. Jackson. Regrettably, there were no eyewitnesses to the crime, but Mr. Smith has a violent character. Ms. Lopez testified earlier that Mr. Smith, shouting loudly, had threatened her. Smith never refuted this testimony.
The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that
(A) aggressive behavior is not a sure indicator of a violent character
(B) Smith’s testimony is unreliable since he is loud and aggressive
(C) since Smith never disproved the claim that he threatened Lopez, he did in fact threaten her
(D) Lopez’s testimony is reliable since she is neither loud nor aggressive
(E) having a violent character is not necessarily associated with the commission of violent crimes

good question.


E is good but it should be the 2nd choice. If I choose C I am going to nullify the only evidence (by rejecting the assumption) provided by the attorney. I should choose E if his evidence is well established. If I can reject root of his logic I better do that.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 22 Jun 2011, 02:43
I DO NOT AGREE THAT OA IS C

The conclusion is that the man ASSAULTS. C declares that the man THREATENS. So, C is irrelevant.

E is correct.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 22 Jun 2011, 05:09
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It's crucially important to read the question here. The question asks: "The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that..." So the right answer absolutely *must* express some part of the reasoning of the argument. The attorney assumes a violent character *is* associated with the commission of violent crimes; that's the basis of the argument that Smith is guilty of assault, and it is certainly a flawed assumption. If we had an answer choice that said that, it would be a great answer here. But that's the precise *opposite* of what E says: E says a violent character is *not* associated with violent crimes. E is not part of the attorney's reasoning, so E is certainly not the right answer here.

C is the only good answer among the choices, because it is the only answer that directly points to a flaw in the argument. Still, when the question asks "The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that...", the question makes it seem as though there is only one flaw in the attorney's argument. There's not just one flaw; the entire argument is preposterous. The attorney is saying: "Mr. Smith shouted at Ms. Lopez. Therefore Mr. Smith is guilty of assaulting Mr. Jackson." That attorney would be laughed out of court.

In all, it's a strange question, and definitely more of an LSAT question than a GMAT one.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 23 Jun 2011, 11:20
C it Right!

E is totally wrong! The attorney reasons exactly the opposite of E...
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 24 Jun 2011, 14:42
+1 C !

You have to read carefully the question: "because it reasons that..."
The question is asking you to indicate how the attorney is reasoning, not why he is wrong.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 25 Jun 2011, 07:06
C it is.
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 28 Jun 2011, 11:59
I picked E too....but it is kind of LSAT-centric..
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 30 Jun 2011, 10:32
C would be what the lawyer wanted the jury to believe
D would be what I would say in response to the lawyer...
Easy to confuse...but that is "the trap"
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 30 Jun 2011, 15:49
(A) aggressive behavior is not a sure indicator of a violent character - argument speaks about guilty in committing assault and not aggressive behavior
(B) Smith’s testimony is unreliable since he is loud and aggressive - strengthens the argument
(C) since Smith never disproved the claim that he threatened Lopez, he did in fact threaten her - not related to argument's conclusion
(D) Lopez’s testimony is reliable since she is neither loud nor aggressive - not related to argument's conclusion
(E) having a violent character is not necessarily associated with the commission of violent crimes - if violent character cannot be the basis of finding Smith guilty, the author's argument falls apart
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Re: attorney’s argument is fallacious [#permalink] New post 07 Apr 2012, 01:57
IanStewart wrote:
It's crucially important to read the question here. The question asks: "The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that..." So the right answer absolutely *must* express some part of the reasoning of the argument. The attorney assumes a violent character *is* associated with the commission of violent crimes; that's the basis of the argument that Smith is guilty of assault, and it is certainly a flawed assumption. If we had an answer choice that said that, it would be a great answer here. But that's the precise *opposite* of what E says: E says a violent character is *not* associated with violent crimes. E is not part of the attorney's reasoning, so E is certainly not the right answer here.

C is the only good answer among the choices, because it is the only answer that directly points to a flaw in the argument. Still, when the question asks "The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that...", the question makes it seem as though there is only one flaw in the attorney's argument. There's not just one flaw; the entire argument is preposterous. The attorney is saying: "Mr. Smith shouted at Ms. Lopez. Therefore Mr. Smith is guilty of assaulting Mr. Jackson." That attorney would be laughed out of court.

In all, it's a strange question, and definitely more of an LSAT question than a GMAT one.



One kudo +1 for you IanStewert.

Excellent observation, we generally read the question stems in hurry and hence often make mistakes.

Question clearely says: "The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that...."

Had attorney's argument used the reasoning which mentioned in statement E, the argument would not have fall apart. I mean attorney's reasoning would have been right, but that is not the question. We are asked to find the flaw in the reasoning. E, infact supports the reasoning and hence wrong.

By POE, Only C remains,Hence I choosed C. While taking the test, we generally don't have much time for brainstorming to understand the logic behind the answere.
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Re: Attorney: I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting [#permalink] New post 19 Apr 2012, 21:24
At first I was stuck between C & E and then realized that both are wrong :) Here's why?

Attorney: I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting Mr. Jackson. Regrettably, there were no eyewitnesses to the crime, but Mr. Smith has a violent character. Ms. Lopez testified earlier that Mr. Smith, shouting loudly, had threatened her. Smith never refuted this testimony.
The attorney’s argument is fallacious because it reasons that
(C) since Smith never disproved the claim that he threatened Lopez, he did in fact threaten her
(E) having a violent character is not necessarily associated with the commission of violent crimes

Conclusion:I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting Mr. Jackson.
Premise1:Mr. Smith has a violent character.
Premise2:Ms. Lopez testified earlier that Mr. Smith, shouting loudly, had threatened her. Smith never refuted this testimony.

Suppose C is correct => S threatened L & accepted testimony => from this we can never say that S assaulted J ..... L & J are different ppl.

Option E has an extra "not"
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Re: Attorney: I ask you to find Mr. Smith guilty of assaulting   [#permalink] 19 Apr 2012, 21:24
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