Plumb-Ace advertises

Answer choices

1. A

   Not Necessary vs. Sufficient13% picked this

   treats something that is necessary to make a certification process very difficult as if it were sufficient by itself to

   This describes the #1 famous flaw, Necessary vs. Sufficient, in which an author presents a conditional logic rule as one of his premises, but then applies that rule illegally in some reversed or negated fashion. There's no conditional logic premise here, so no chance this is correct. The only premise is "nearly everyone who takes the written portion passes it easily."

   13%
2. B

   Too Strong: unless Not Assumed2% picked this

   takes for granted that plumbers are not qualified unless they complete

   When a flaw answer starts with takes for granted / presumes / fails to establish, we can ask ourselves whether the author needed to assume the idea that follows. Did this author logically commit himself to believing this: If you haven't completed ? then you are not some certification process qualified Definitely not. This doesn't reflect any reasoning move the author made. He made only one move: If the written portion of ? then the overall some certification process is not process is not difficult difficult

   2%
3. C

   Irrelevant Objection Relative vs. Absolute13% picked this

   overlooks the possibility that plumbers at other firms in the region complete certification processes that are even easier than

   When a flaw answer starts with fails to consider / overlooks the possibility, we can ask ourselves whether the idea that follows sounds like a weakening objection. Can we hurt the argument by saying, "Hey, author -- the certification at other plumbing agencies is even easier than at Plumb-Ace"? No. Establishing that other tests are even easier doesn't establish that this test is difficult. It only establishes that this test is more difficult. LSAT frequently tests this distinction between Relative and Absolute language. If I say, "This 2nd grade math test is hard. After all, the 1st grade math test is even easier", you would correctly say, "This 2nd grade math test is not hard. It's harder than a 1st grade test, but it's not hard."

   13%
4. D

   Trap7% picked this

   infers that a claim is false on the grounds that an inadequate argument has been

   Not Unproven vs. Proven False Bad Evidence Match This describes the famous flaw, Unproven vs. Proven False, in which an author concludes that someone's claim is wrong, merely because they unsuccessfully tried to prove it was true. Here, the author does infer that the claim "this certification process is very difficult" is false. Does his evidence describe the argument that Plumb-Ace makes in favor of claiming that it's very difficult? No. His evidence doesn't reference Plumb-Ace's argument for this claim at all. His evidence merely points to the very high passing rate for the written portion.

   7%
5. E

   Correct65% picked this

   presumes that since one part of a whole lacks a certain characteristic, the whole must lack

   Why this is right

   This describes the famous Part vs. Whole flaw. Because this answer presents a two-part move (since X, Y), we want to ask ourselves whether we can match this to the argument. Did the author's evidence say that, one part of a whole lacks a certain characteristic? Yes. The written portion is a part of the whole certification process, and the author is showing that the this part lacks the characteristic of being "very difficult" (after all, almost everyone passes it very easily). Does the author's conclusion act like the whole must lack that characteristic as well? Yes. The conclusion is that the certification process overall clearly lacks the characteristic of being "very difficult".

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

   65%