Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT141 S2 Q16 Explanation

The top prize in architecture

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TopicsMethod

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Stimulus

The top prize in architecture, the Pritzker Prize, is awarded for individual achievement, like Nobel Prizes for science. But architects are judged by their buildings, and buildings are the result of teamwork. As achievements, buildings are not like scientific discoveries, but like movies, which compete for awards for best picture. Thus, it were awarded to the best building rather than the best architect.

What this question is testing

Method

Argument

The author lines up three fields: science, film, and architecture. Each has a top prize. The author notes that architecture awards individuals (like science does), but buildings are made by teams (like movies). And in film, the prize goes to the work — best picture. So architecture should follow film's practice and award the best building, not the best architect.

Method

The whole move is comparison-based. The author looks at how prizes work in other fields and uses those comparisons to argue for what architecture should do.

Goal

An answer that describes this comparison-driven method.

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The question
16.

The argument proceeds

Answer choices

  1. Correct78% picked this

    reaching a conclusion about the way something should be done in one field on the basis of comparisons with

    Why this is right

    This describes the method exactly. The argument concludes how architecture (one field) should award its prize, based on comparisons with how science and film (other fields) award theirs. "Reaching a conclusion about the way something should be done in one field on the basis of comparisons with corresponding practices in other fields" — that's precisely the move.

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

  2. Bad Conclusion Match3% picked this

    making a distinction between two different types of objects in order to conclude that one has more inherent

    The argument doesn't conclude that one type of object has more "inherent value" than another. It concludes how the architecture prize should be awarded. The argument is about prize practice, not about value rankings of objects.

  3. Bad Description7% picked this

    pointing to similarities between two practices as a basis for concluding that criticisms of one practice can rightly

    The argument isn't saying criticisms of one practice apply to another. It's saying architecture should adopt film's prize practice. There's no transfer of criticism — there's a transfer of practice.

  4. Bad Description8% picked this

    arguing that because two different fields are disanalogous, the characteristics of one field are not relevant to justifying

    The argument doesn't conclude that fields are disanalogous, leading to no relevance. It actually relies on the analogy with film (architecture is like film) to argue for a conclusion. Fields being disanalogous is part of the setup (architecture vs. science) but not the conclusion's basis.

  5. Bad Description4% picked this

    contending that an action is inappropriate by presenting an argument that a corresponding action in an

    The argument isn't saying one action is "inappropriate." It's arguing for a better way to award the prize. There's no claim that something is wrong by analogy to a wrong thing in another field.

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