V06-04

Official Solution:


Men have an easy time deciding how to dress on Casual Fridays because all they have to do is choose khakis over dress slacks and leave off the tie they would wear during the week. Women, on the other hand, have a much more difficult time determining what is casual but not too casual. Casual Friday should, therefore, be cancelled because it presents more difficulties for women than for men.

Which of the following is most like the argument above in logical structure?


A. Women on a road construction crew are frequently assigned non-labor intensive jobs such as holding traffic signs. This is sexual discrimination and should be stopped.
B. Members of a country club are given first choice of tee times on the golf course. Members of the public who would like to play the course should also be given this treatment.
C. Users of an open-source software program wishing to access to online technical support must submit personal information in order to register. Access to technical support should not require registration, as this is unfair to users wishing to remain anonymous.
D. Full-time employees spend more hours in the office than part-time employees and have greater access to the sign-up sheet for Christmas vacation time. Because this is unfair, no employees will be given extra vacation time during Christmas.
E. A university charges twice as much for out-of-state tuition as it does for in-state tuition. This is unfair to out-of-state students, who should be allowed to pay the in-state tuition rate.


Situation: Women have a more difficult time than men judging what dress is appropriate for Casual Fridays. Casual Fridays should, therefore, be discontinued.

Reasoning: Which is most like the argument in logical structure? The passage compares the ease with which men and women, all of whom are part of the same group of employees of the business, can determine what dress is appropriate for Casual Fridays. The passage argues that women have more decisions to make than men, and that this fact makes Casual Friday, usually considered an employee benefit, unfair to women. The solution suggested in the passage is that Casual Friday should be cancelled – a decision that affects all the employees in the office – so that one group will not be presented with difficulties another group does not face.

A. This option does not involve the loss of a benefit for all employees.

B. Country club members, unlike employees at the business in the example, have paid for their membership in the club. Although non-members are excluded from the club, this option does not involve the loss of a benefit for two groups on equal membership footing.

C. Technical support is optional and people who want to remain anonymous can forego both the support and the sharing of their personal information. Because this option does not involve the loss of a benefit for registered and non-registered users alike, it is not similar to the passage in logical structure.

D. CORRECT. This item is most similar to the passage in logical structure. In this situation, both full-time and part-time employees are equally involved in the office, and both groups likely want extra vacation time at Christmas. The loss of extra vacation time affects full- and part-time employees alike.

E. Out-of-state students also choose to attend the university in question; this option does not involve the loss of a benefit to students of equal standing.


Answer: D