gracezz wrote:
If a society encourages freedom of thought and expression, then, during the time when it does so, creativity will flourish in that society. In the United States creativity flourished during the eighteenth century. It is clear, therefore, that freedom of thought was encouraged in the United States during the eighteenth century.
An error of reasoning of the same kind as one contained in the passage is present in each of the following arguments EXCEPT:
(A) According to the airline industry, airfares have to rise if air travel is to be made safer; since airfares were just raised, we can rest assured that air travel will therefore become safer.
(B) We can conclude that the Hillside police department has improved its efficiency, because crime rates are down in Hillside, and it is an established fact that crime rates go down when police departments increase their efficiency.
(C) People who are really interested in the preservation of wildlife obviously do not go hunting for big game; since Gerda has never gone hunting for big game and intends never to do so, it is clear that she is really interested in the preservation of wildlife.
(D) If the contents of a bottle are safe to drink, the bottle will not be marked “poison,” so, since the bottle is not marked “poison,” its contents will be safe to drink.
(E) None of the so-called Western democracies is really democratic, because, for a country to be democratic, the opinion of each of its citizens must have a meaningful effect on government, and in none of these countries does each citizen’s opinion have such an effect.
This is parallel reasoning question.
ANALYZE THE STIMULUS:
The form of this question is:
If A occurs --> B occurs
Conclusion: If B occurs ==> A must occurs. (the reverse relationship is true).
This is
wrong conclusion, our task is to find option that does
NOT follow the above wrong reasoning.
Please note: it does not mean we find a correct reasoning.
ANALYZE EACH ANSWER:(A) if air travel is to be made safer ==> Airfares have to rise
[ X --> Y ]Conclusion: since airfares were just raised ==> air travel will become safer.
[Y happens --> X must happen]==> Same error as in the argument. Thus, A is wrong.
(B) when police departments increase their efficiency ==> crime rates go down
[X --> Y].Conclusion: because crime rates are down in Hillside, the Hillside police department has improved its efficiency
[ Y happens --> X must happen]==> Same error as in the argument. Thus, B is wrong.
(C) People who are really interested in the preservation of wildlife ==> do not go hunting for big game;
[X --> Y]Conclusion: since Gerda has never gone hunting for big game and intends never to do so ==> Gerda is really interested in the preservation of wildlife.
[Y happens --> X must happen]==> Same error as in the argument. Thus, C is wrong.
(D) If the contents of a bottle are safe to drink ==> the bottle will not be marked “poison,
[X --> Y]Conclusion: the bottle is not marked “poison,” ==> its contents will be safe to drink.
[Y happens --> X must happen]==> Same error as in the argument. Thus, D is wrong.
(E) the opinion of each of its citizens must have a meaningful effect on government ==> for a country to be democratic
[X --> Y] Conclusion: none of these countries does each citizen’s opinion have such an effect ==> None of the so-called Western democracies is really democratic, because
[ NOT X --> NOT Y]==> Clearly, E does NOT follow the same error as in the argument.
Thus, E is correct.Hope it helps