KHow wrote:
Hello,
Can someone provide insight about why B is correct and not E?
Thank you!
KHowQuote:
In yesterday’s council election a majority of voters supported conservative candidates, and a majority of voters supported candidates who voted in favor of the antipollution act. Therefore, it must be that a majority of voters in yesterday’s council election supported conservative candidates who voted in favor of the antipollution act.
Which one of the following is an argument that contains flawed reasoning most similar to the flawed reasoning in the argument above?
Premise: …a majority (over 50%) of voters supported conservative candidates…
Premise: ….a majority (over 50%) of voters supported candidates who voted in favor of the antipollution act.
Conclusion: …a majority (over 50%) of voters supported conservative candidates who voted in favor of the antipollution act.Notice the “majority…majority…majority” construction. And that premise 1 supports X, premise 2 supports Y, and concludes that therefore as a whole the majority supports both X and Y.
Quote:
(A) Bill claims that soil can be damaged if it is tilled when it is too wet, and Sue claims that seeds planted in wet soil can rot. Therefore, if both claims are true, gardeners who till and plant their gardens when the soil is wet damage both their soil and their seeds.
Doesn’t follow construction.
Quote:
(B) According to Sara, most children like pies. According to Robert, most children like blueberries. So if Sara and Robert are both right, it must be that most children like pies that contain blueberries.
“Most…most…most”. Similar reasoning. Hold!
Quote:
(C) Mark will go on a picnic today only if it does not rain. Susan will go on a picnic today only if Mark goes too. Since it is not going to rain today, both Mark and Susan will go on a picnic.
Not the same reasoning as the stimulus.
Quote:
(D) The majority of customers who regularly eat at this restaurant always order both fish and stuffed mushrooms. Thus, fish and stuffed mushrooms must be the restaurant’s most frequently ordered dishes.
This answer choice starts off fine, but fails to offer the second premise. So it fails.
Quote:
(E) Most people living at Gina’s house cook well. Since most people at Gina’s house enjoy eating well-cooked meals, most meals served at Gina’s house are cooked well.
This is tempting with the “most…most…most” but if we look carefully the reasoning is different. It starts of saying that “most people at Gina’s house do X” then “most people at Gina’s house enjoy Y”. It concludes that “most meals served are cooked well” when we are looking for a conclusion that describes “cooking well” and “eating well-cooked meals”….not about meals served.
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