Logical Reasoning

PT1 · S3 · Q20 Most people in the United States

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Most people in the United States view neither big nor small business as particularly efficient or dynamic and regard both as providing consumers with fairly priced goods and services.

Statements

pivot (however) Most people in the United States see neither big nor small business as especially efficient or dynamic, and see both as providing fairly priced goods and services.

however, most people consistently see small business as a force for good in society, whereas big business is seen as socially responsible only in times of prosperity.

Evaluate

The pivot at "However" sets up some tension. Usually, correct answers will address that tension.

In this case, the tension created by the pivot is creating a contrast. - People don't think of big vs. small differently in terms of efficiency / fair prices / etc, - People do think of big vs. small differently in terms of being a force for good / socially responsible.

Goal

Since we're looking for the most provable answer, we usually are pretty wary of speculative answers, so an answer that restates what we know about this contrast would be safer than an answer that tries to explain why this contrast exists.

Still, sometimes the correct answer on Most Supported does provide a speculative hypothesis for why things are the case.

20.

The statements above, if true, would provide the strongest support for which one of the following hypotheses?

  1. Most people in the United

    Out of Scope

    Where would we get the idea that most people give little thought to the value of business. The last sentence describes a consistent public perception about the societal value of business, which suggests people have thought about the matter.

    3% picked this

  2. If big business were more

    Unsupported

    This sort of of counterfactual conditional, "If things were this way instead, then this other effect would occur" is a causal claim in disguise. Were we told that the public doesn't perceive big business favorably because it's not efficient? No. Neither kind of business is seen as efficient, yet small business is viewed favorably anyway. Efficiency therefore does not seem to drive the assessment of favorability. A stronger answer could say, "If big business were perceived as socially responsible in less prosperous times as well, it would be perceived more favorably."

    4% picked this

  3. If small business were regarded

    Too Speculative

    The passage never made a causal connection between being dynamic and receiving more favorable ratings. Small businesses aren't seen as dynamic, yet they are consistently perceived as a force for good in society (sounds pretty favorable). Also, this answer implies the strong idea that big businesses are only receiving strongly favorable ratings in times of prosperity, which we never heard.

    1% picked this

  4. Even if people did not

    Unsupported

    The statements say big business is seen as fairly priced and as socially responsible in prosperity. They do not say what people would think if the fair-pricing judgment were removed. We'd be speculating that the fair prices have nothing to do with the assessment of being social responsible in times of prosperity. That could be true, but who knows.

    24% picked this

  5. Correct

    Many people in the United

    Why this is right

    This is supported by grabbing an idea from both sides of the However pivot. Most people think big business provides consumers with fairly priced goods. But most people big business is socially responsible only in times of prosperity. Since the first assessment is a stable / enduring one (they always provide fair prices), but the second one is a temporary / contingent one (they only seem socially responsible sometimes), that implies that socially responsible is not the same as fair prices. If fair pricing were all that social responsibility required, big business would qualify all the time. Since it does not, the public's notion of social responsibility must extend beyond fair pricing, at least for the many people who hold both views.

    Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    68% picked this

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