Logical Reasoning

PT111 · S1 · Q20 Columnist: Almost anyone can be an expert

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Columnist: Almost anyone can be an expert, for there are no official guidelines determining what an expert must know.

Conclusion

Almost anyone can be an expert.

Evidence (for)

If you can manage to convince some people of your qualifications in an area, then you're an expert.

Evaluate

This has a fairly simple structure: - Anyone can be X. - If you can do Y, then you can be X.

What's missing? "Anyone can do Y."

If we wanted to see this conditionally, the conclusion is trying to make this connection: Almost ----------------------------------> can be anyone an expert

Premise: convince others -----> can be of your qualifications an expert

Missing link:

Almost ---------> convince others anyone of your qualifications

Goal

Look for an answer saying .

20.

The columnist's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

  1. Correct

    Almost anyone can convince some

    Why this is right

    If almost anyone can convince others of their qualifications, and if convincing others of your qualifications means that you're an expert, then almost anyone can be an expert.

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

    65% picked this

  2. Some experts convince everyone of

    Unrelated to Goal

    Since the conclusion makes a claim about "almost anyone" but there is no evidence that tells us a fact about "almost anyone", we know the correct answer needs to. This answer isn't telling us anything that's true of "almost anyone", so it can't possibly help us to derive a claim about "almost anyone".

    1% picked this

  3. Convincing certain people that one

    Unrelated to Goal Opposite

    Since the conclusion makes a claim about "almost anyone" but there is no evidence that tells us a fact about "almost anyone", we know the correct answer needs to. This answer isn't telling us anything that's true of "almost anyone", so it can't possibly help us to derive a claim about "almost anyone". This answer conversationally seems to go against the author's gist. She seems to be thinking that almost anyone can be an expert because you only need to convince people that you're qualified; you don't actually need to be qualified.

    6% picked this

  4. Every expert has convinced some

    Unrelated to Goal

    Since the conclusion makes a claim about "almost anyone" but there is no evidence that tells us a fact about "almost anyone", we know the correct answer needs to. This answer isn't telling us anything that's true of "almost anyone", so it can't possibly help us to derive a claim about "almost anyone".

    27% picked this

  5. Some people manage to convince

    Too Weak

    This answer would allow us to derive that "some people are experts in one or more areas". But we're trying to derive that "almost anyone can be an expert", and this answer isn't giving us a way to prove that such a high percentage of people can be experts.

    1% picked this

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