When the famous art collector Vidmar died, a public auction of her collection, the largest privately owned, was held.
“I can’t possibly afford any of those works because hers is among the most valuable collections ever assembled by a single person,” declared art lover MacNeil.
The flawed pattern of reasoning in which one of the following is most closely parallel to that in MacNeil’s argument?
The flaw with the reasoning is that what is true of the whole is also true of each component—just because the collection as a whole is one of the most expensive in existence, that does not mean that every single work in the collection is priceless.
(A) Each word in the book is in French. So the whole book is in French.- incorrect, this is the reverse of what we’re looking for. In this choice, the author considers an attribute of each component (that is, each word), and draws a conclusion about the whole (the entire book)
(B) The city council voted unanimously to adopt the plan. So councilperson Martinez voted to adopt the plan.- incorrect, since ethe voting was unanimouse, Martinez must have voted to adopt the plan.
(C) This paragraph is long. So the sentences that comprise it are long.- Correct
(D) The members of the company are old. So the company itself is old.- incorrect, this is the reverse of what we’re looking for.
(E) The atoms comprising this molecule are elements. So the molecule itself is an element.- incorrect,the flaw is if it is true of the parts, it must also be true of the whole
Answer C