To use the pool at City Gym

Answer choices

1. A

   Bad Match1% picked this

   mistakes a policy that is strictly enforced for a policy to which

   Do we have a policy that is strictly enforced? Hmm, not really. We have a policy -- "to use pool, you must have a membership", but we don't know how strictly it's enforced. We might be able to confidently walk in, and the only I.D. we need to flash is our pearly white grin. We certainly never talked about people making exceptions to this policy and letting non-membership holders swim there.

   1%
2. B

   Correct81% picked this

   treats a statement whose truth is required for the conclusion to be true as though it were a statement whose truth ensures

   Why this is right

   This is a statement: Sarah has a membership The conclusion is Sarah uses the pool. For Sarah uses the pool to be true Sarah has a membership is required. However, our author it treating this statement, Sarah has a membership as though it ensures that Sarah uses the pool. Everything matches. If we knew to look for the Necessary vs. Sufficient flaw, then we would see the synonyms here and think, "Required vs. Ensures" is the same as Necessary vs. Sufficient.

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

   81%
3. C

   Wrong Flaw5% picked this

   presumes that one or the other of two alternatives must be the case without establishing that no

   This answer describes the semi-famous flaw False Choice, in which the author lays out some options and acts like they're the only options without ever establishing that. This argument isn't laying out two alternatives. We could pretend that these are two alternatives: "Sarah never uses the pool" vs. "Sarah at least sometimes uses the pool" But in that case, we wouldn't complain that the author was failing to consider that a 3rd alternative may exist. There's no 3rd alternative, if the first two are binary: She uses the pool / she doesn't use the pool False Choice doesn't mean "you made an arbitrary choice between True and False." It means, "you acted like X and Y were our only options, but there might be more options."

   5%
4. D

   Bad Premise Match12% picked this

   concludes that a person has a certain attribute simply because that person belongs to a group most of

   Does the conclusion say a person has a certain attribute? Sure, we could say "Sarah" has the attribute of "sometimes swims at City Gym". Is there a premise that says Sarah is part of a group, most of whom sometimes swim at City Gym? No, the premises are Sarah has a membership, and you need a membership to swim.

   12%
5. E

   Wrong Flaw1% picked this

   draws a conclusion that merely restates a claim presented in support

   This describes the famous Circular Reasoning flaw, in which the Evidence assumes or restates the Conclusion. This answer is almost always wrong, and if you see more than one unique premise, it's definitely wrong. The premises are "Sarah has membership" and "pool requires membership". The conclusion is "Sarah uses pool". No claims were restated. All three were distinct.

   1%