Logical Reasoning

PT108 · S3 · Q3 The local fair held its

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The local fair held its annual photography contest and accepted entries from both amateurs and professionals.

Given that ...

The fair's photography contest accepted entries from both amateurs and professionals.

Why is it that ...

Most prizes ended up going to amateurs?

Evaluate

The counterintuitive idea is that we would assume that professionals take better photos than amateurs, and so professionals would be more likely to win top prize.

But maybe they are banned from some categories. Maybe there were uninterested in submitting their photos. Maybe some amateurs just really kick ass.

Goal

Get rid of the four answers that explain why amateurs won most prizes.

Typically, with EXCEPT, three of them might explain it one way and the remaining one might come at it from a different angle, so stay flexible.

3.

Each of the following, if true, could by itself constitute an explanation of the outcome of the photography contest EXCEPT:

  1. Many more of the entries

    Could Resolve

    If many more entries came from amateurs than from professionals, then even if amateurs were less likely to win then professionals, the sheer volume of amateur submissions could lead to more amateur prizes.

    2% picked this

  2. The judges in the contest

    Could Resolve

    If the judges were amateurs and amateurs prefer photographs by other amateurs, then amateur work would be favored in judging. This could help explain why amateurs won most prizes.

    3% picked this

  3. Amateurs tend to enter their

    Could Resolve

    If amateurs entered their best work but professionals saved their best for paying clients, then we can see how submissions from the amateurs might have been better than submissions from the pros.

    8% picked this

  4. Each category in the contest

    Could Resolve

    This is the one that works a little differently than the others. In the other three, amateur photos were somehow beating pro photos (either by sheer quantity, by biased judges, or by submission quality). With this answer, the story has nothing to do with amateur photos beating professional ones. There were just more prizes to be won by amateurs because there were more categories open to only them. With this answer, it was baked in from the design of the contest that there would be more amateur winners.

    6% picked this

  5. Correct

    Three times as many amateurs

    Why this is right

    This is similar to (A), but it lacks any comparison to professionals. We could tell ourselves that, "Damn, if amateurs entered 3x as many as they ever had before, then there must have been way more amateur photos than professional photos", but taking it to that place is a little shaky. Ultimately, B / C / D have the clearest impact in terms of amateurs > professionals. A and E are both telling a shakier story that "because there were more submissions from amateurs, they won more prizes". That story isn't super common sensical. You can flood a category with mediocre submissions from amateurs; that still shouldn't result in them winning the top prize for that category. But of those two answers, (A) at least establishes a clear distinction. (E) hints at one, but we don't know if professionals also submitted way more entries this year than in years past.

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

    81% picked this

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