Political commentators see recent policies of the government toward

Question

Political commentators see recent policies of the government toward Country X as appeasement, pure and simple. This view is fundamentally mistaken, for polls show that most people disagree with the political commentators' assessment of government policies toward Country X.

The reasoning in the argument is questionable because

(A) the term "policies" is used ambiguously in the argument.

(B) the political commentators discussed in the passage are not identified.

(C) a claim is inferred to be false merely because a majority of people believe it to be false.

(D) the claim that the political commentators are mistaken is both a premise and a conclusion in the argument.

(E) it is assumed that what is true of persons individually is true of a country as a whole.

UpHa · Answer

IMO, C. As it rightly correlates the views to be false because majority disagree rather than basing it on facts.

SafeRay · Answer

Pattern: treating popularity as truth. The argument says the commentators are wrong because most people disagree with them. Majority opinion does not prove a claim false. That is the leap, and C names it cleanly.

Quick kills: A: "policies" is used the same way throughout. B: naming the commentators is not required for the logic to work. D: the claim they are mistaken is the conclusion, not also a premise. E: no individual to country mixup here.

So C is the flaw.

guddo · Answer

Political commentators see recent policies of the government toward Country X as appeasement, pure and simple. This view is fundamentally mistaken, for polls show that most people disagree with the political commentators' assessment of government policies toward Country X.
 
 The reasoning in the argument is questionable because

The argument says the commentators are wrong because most people disagree with them.  The flaw  is treating majority opinion as proof that a claim is false. But a claim can be true even if  most people reject it .

(A) the term "policies" is used ambiguously in the argument.

This is not the flaw. “Policies” is used consistently to refer to the government’s actions toward Country X.

(B) the political commentators discussed in the passage are not identified.

This is not enough to show a flaw. The problem is not that the commentators are unnamed; the problem is how their view is rejected.

(C) a claim is inferred to be false merely because a majority of people believe it to be false.

This is correct.  The argument concludes that the commentators’ view is mistaken only because polls show most people disagree with it. Majority disagreement does not prove the view false.

(D) the claim that the political commentators are mistaken is both a premise and a conclusion in the argument.

This is incorrect. The argument uses poll results as the premise and concludes that the commentators are mistaken. It does not assume that conclusion as a premise.

(E) it is assumed that what is true of persons individually is true of a country as a whole.

This is not happening. The argument does not move from individuals to a country. It moves from majority opinion to truth.

Answer: (C)

Auro411 · Answer

When you look at the stem, the first pre think comes in your mind, or flaw comes in your mind is a claim is false as the majority perceived it to be and it is error of Appeal to popular opinion or numbers.

Let's look at options one by one,

(A) No, completely wrong; there is no ambiguous use of the term policies. Eliminate

(B)Again, completely out-of-scope answer and wrong reasoning stated, which isn't mentioned here. Eliminate

(C) That's the actual flaw; the majority believed to be wrong doesn't make the claim false. Keep it as a  contender.

(D) Again, wrong reasoning; political commentators aren't used as both a premise and a conclusion, which makes it completely wrong.

(E) It's the reverse answer, as no individual view or poll is generalised and the majority view is generalised. Eliminate

Hence  C i s the answer.

Political commentators see recent policies of the government toward

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Political commentators see recent policies of the government toward

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards