Standardized Test Writer: The most difficult items on our ..

Hi solitaryreaper,

This is a CR question which I can relate to very much.

Here's how I addressed the question: first I read the question stem and then identified the components in the passage.

Irrelevant: Standardized Test Writer:
Premise: The most difficult items on our most difficult standardized test average a correct response rate of 18%.
Premise: But two questions that I have written are currently averaging a correct response rate of 7%,
Conclusion: so they must be among the most difficult legitimate questions on any of our standardized tests.

Identifying the conclusion is easy because the keyword "So" draws your attention to it.

Now that I know my conclusion, I need to evaluate each answer choice for what attacks it directly.

A) The test questions are still in an experimental stage. | Being in experimental stage does not directly say that the question is illegitimate. The nature of the experiemental stage would be that there is a possibility that it is legitimate.
B) The test questions have not been vetted by any other test writers. | This is similar to the experimental stage answer choice. Just because the questions have not yet been vetted does not mean that they are not legitimate.
C) The standardized test writer is inexperienced. | This one is also similar to the previous two points. Also it employs the "ad hominem" logical fallacy, saying that the characteristics of the test writer undermine the legitimacy of the questions.
D)No standardized test question with a rate below 20% is considered easy. | This answer choice strengthens the conclusion, not weakens. It's a trap!
E) Both questions have multiple answers that are technically correct, but only one answer that is credited as correct. | This is the only remaining answer choice. If we double check and look at it, we can see that having multiple correct answers but not giving students credit for selecting either correct answer makes the question illegitimate. No doubt you may have felt this way on some practice GMAT questions!

Correct answer is E.