Logical Reasoning

PT140 · S1 · Q1 Several years ago, most

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Several years ago, most of one country's large banks failed and were taken over by a government agency.

Conclusion

The agency is unlikely to achieve its goal (i.e. the banking system will not be strengthened).

Evidence

If the former owners of these banks buy them back, the banking system will not be strengthened.

If an argument gives us a conditional premise X → Y and then concludes So, Y. then what is the missing idea?

We're missing this: X.

We know if the former owners buy back, the banking system will not be strengthened.

Our author concludes the banking system will not be strengthened.

Goal

So, we want to hear that the former owners will buy these banks back.

1.

The conclusion of the argument is properly drawn if which one of the following completes the passage?

  1. the agency may be unable

    Weak / Unrelated to Goal

    We'll almost never see weak wording like "may" in the correct answer to Sufficient Assumption, since we're looking for an answer that guarantees the conclusion is true (follows logically / properly drawn / properly inferred). Since we're trying to prove the idea that "the banking system will not be strengthened", and since we were provided a law that says if X ? banking system won't be strengthened We need an answer to tell us "X", which is that "the former owners will buy back these banks".

    3% picked this

  2. a single company could buy

    Weak / Unrelated to Goal

    We'll almost never see weak wording like "could" in the correct answer to Sufficient Assumption, since we're looking for an answer that guarantees the conclusion is true (follows logically / properly drawn / properly inferred). Since we're trying to prove the idea that "the banking system will not be strengthened", and since we were provided a law that says if X ? banking system won't be strengthened We need an answer to tell us "X", which is that "the former owners will buy back these banks".

    1% picked this

  3. the country's overall economy is

    Out of Scope: overall economy

    The correct answer on Sufficient Assumption will almost never contain wording we haven't already used in the passage, since it's just trying to patch together loose ends (not create a new loose end by introducing new wording like "overall economy").

    3% picked this

  4. the banks sold by the

    Irrelevant Comparison

    We're only here to judge / prove whether the banking system will / won't be strengthened. Wording like "these banks will be weaker than other banks for some time" is a very wishy-washy idea. We need definitive understanding that the banking system isn't strengthened.

    2% picked this

  5. Correct

    all of the bidders for

    Why this is right

    We were looking to hear that "the former owner of these banks will buy them back". If we knew that, it would prove the idea that the banking system will not be strengthened. But since the actual conclusion is just "the agency is unlikely to achieve its goal" we need to prove that "the banking system is likely not going to be strengthened". If all the bidders for the banks are former owners, then it's likely that the former owners of the banks are going to buy them back, so it's likely that the banking system will not be strengthened.

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

    92% picked this

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