Juliette is likely a world-class figure skater. Like most world-class

Question

Juliette is likely a world-class figure skater. Like most world-class figure skaters, Juliette has been skating since she was very young. In fact, it is almost impossible to become a world-class figure without having started skating at a very young age. Most people who are not world-class figure skaters start skating much later in life.

The pattern of reasoning in the argument above is most similar to which of the following?

A. Most professional basketball players are taller than average. In fact, most people who are not taller than average are not professional basketball players. Billy is not a professional basketball player so he must not be taller than average.

B. Diana devotes over 20 hours a week to playing golf, as do most professional golfers. It is difficult to become a professional golfer playing any less than 20 hours a week. So Diana is probably a professional golfer.

C. Left-handed bowlers make up more than 30 percent of the world’s top bowlers, a percentage more than double the percentage of the population at large. Sam is left handed, so he is probably one of the world’s top bowlers.

D. Some of the best hitters in baseball have vision better than 20/20, the standard vision score of the population. In fact, some of these players have vision scores of 20/10. Perry has a vision score better than 20/20 so he must play baseball.

E. Yvette is most definitely a champion swimmer. After all, she can hold her breath for almost two minutes and she has mastered all the main strokes. Very few people possess both these characteristics. In fact, only champion swimmers have both.

Mavisdu1017 · Answer

Narrow down to B and E, so I know B is okay, but why is E wrong? 
Anybody can explain?

Utkarsh.Garg · Answer

Because of Line-

Very few people possess both these characteristics.

thesixthrobin · Answer

Hi, I narrowed it down to B and E, but don't understand why E is wrong.

bb · Answer

The difference I see between B and E is the negative that is used in the original.

Notice how in the original it talks about people who are not ...

msara75 · Answer

Original Argument Breakdown:

Conclusion:
Juliette is likely a world-class figure skater.

Premises:
1. Most world-class figure skaters started skating very young.
2. It’s almost impossible to become world-class without starting young.
3. Most people who are not world-class started later.

Reasoning Pattern:
This is an argument by characteristic — it identifies a necessary condition (starting young) for achieving a certain status (being world-class) and then infers probability (not certainty) from that condition being met.

Formally:

Trait X is common among group A (experts).
Trait X is rare in non-A.
Subject has trait X → So subject is likely in group A.

Option (B) Analysis:
Diana devotes over 20 hours a week to playing golf, as do most professional golfers. It is difficult to become a professional golfer playing any less than 20 hours a week. So Diana is probably a professional golfer.

1. Trait: Playing >20 hours/week = necessary (or close to it) to become a pro.
2. Most pros do it; non-pros likely don't.
3. Diana has this trait.

So she’s probably a pro golfer.

This matches the original structure exactly:
1. Establishes a necessary condition,
2. Points out its rarity outside the target group,
3. Concludes probability, not certainty.

Option (E) Analysis:
Yvette is most definitely a champion swimmer. After all, she can hold her breath for almost two minutes and she has mastered all the main strokes. Very few people possess both these characteristics. In fact, only champion swimmers have both.

1. Here, it says only champion swimmers have both traits.
2. That means the traits are presented as sufficient for being a champion swimmer.
3. Then it concludes with certainty: “Yvette is most definitely a champion swimmer.”

This does not match the original:
The original argument argues from a necessary condition to a probable conclusion.

(E) argues from a sufficient condition to a certain conclusion.

Juliette is likely a world-class figure skater. Like most world-class

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Juliette is likely a world-class figure skater. Like most world-class

Prep Toolkit

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My Rewards