Apple are always Red. John bought a Red fruit. Therefore, it was an Ap

I'm guessing it's C.. do not have a thorough explanation ready.. I've yet to start with CR

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

This question is testing the concept of possibility vs assurance.

The argument is saying:

Since apples are red and John likes red fruits, it is an apple. Come on!! It could be sweet plumb. Did you notice the certainty in the argument? This is the key!

We need to find a similar flaw.

A. Cheetah are fast creatures. A fast creature ran by. Therefore, it may have been a Cheetah. --> Not certain, hence incorrect.

B. Crows are not always black. A brown bird was outside the window. Therefore, it may or may not have been a Crow. --> Not certain, hence incorrect.

C. Except for 2, prime numbers are always odd. The number 13 is odd. Therefore, it is prime. Wow, what is the number was 1? Looks very similar to the original argument.

D. Mark always eats healthy. Few varieties of Salmon are healthy. Therefore, he eats different varieties of Salmon. --> Nonsense. No relation.

E. Gambling is a risky hobby. Tom likes taking risks. Therefore, he likes to gamble. --> This is no where telling us whether Tom has gambling as his hobby.
_________________

The answer is c as it contains the flaw that was there in original sentence .

some solid reason on why E is wrong..?somebody..?

Can somebody please explain why E is wrong ?

There is a strong case for option E here since the reasoning behind it is also flawed.


Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

The right answer here is C. This is a structure based question, which means the only thing we wanna focus on is how the argument is set up, not whether it makes sense or not.

To do this, it's sometimes easier to break the original argument down to x,y,z. This is because the real world terms are introduced in order to confuse us by making us consider real world validity. So the argument really just is:

X is a Y thing. The thing we observe (Z) is a Y thing. Hence, it was also an X.

A - X is a Y. We saw (Z) a Y. Hence, it may have been X. <-- This is only wrong for the usage of "may" instead of "must". OUT

B - X is not always Y. We saw (Z) a not-Y. Hence, it may or may not have been X. This is obviously incorrect. OUT

C - X is always Y (with an exception). We saw (Z) a Y. Hence, it is X. This is the right reasoning we're looking for.

D - X always does Y. Few Z are Y. Hence, X does some Z. This is super super outlandish. OUT

E - X is a Y. Z likes doing Y. Hence, Z likes doing X. This is close, but not exactly right. A better answer would have been one that told us what constitutes gambling (X), not whether X is done or not. OUT

Therefore, C is correct. One interesting thing here. The argument used in C is true. But, it is still flawed reasoning to get there, just as it was in the argument. However, the fact that C was a true statement could potentially have led you down the wrong path. Remember that when it comes to structure based CR questions, truth and validity play second fiddle to simply "what are the elements of the argument".

- Matoo
_________________

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
_________________