PrepTest 73, Logical Reasoning 1, Question 3
Transcript
Question three, when a question asks for the criticism that an argument is most vulnerable to, we are dealing with a flaw question. On a flaw question, our job is to find out what's wrong with the argument. The argument has a problem, we have to spot it. In order to find the problem with the argument we need to understand it which means understanding its conclusion and it's evidence.
The conclusion in this argument comes right there in the second sentence, however, this move is really good from a business perspective. Of course, in order to know what move they're talking about, we have to read the first sentence, so the move is that some video game makers have sold the movie rights for popular games. That's the thing that's really good from a business perspective.
The remainder of the argument is the arguments evidence. It's basically a single case. StarQuanta sold the movie rights to the popular game Nostroma, but they made a bad film out of it, critics hated it, the public hated it. And then after that, subsequent versions of Nostroma, even though they were better, sold poorly.
Now a flaw here is probably obvious from the way that I said the evidence, essentially, we have a single case being used to prove a general rule. Just because things went poorly for StarQuanta doesn't mean that they would go poorly for any video game company that chooses to sell off its movie rights. One example can't really prove a general rule, so that's what we're gonna be looking for in the answer choices.
So let's look at the answers. Answer choice B says that it draws a general conclusion on the basis of just one individual case and that is what I just said a moment ago. That's the problem with this argument. The general conclusion is about all video games, the evidence is just the single case of StarQuanta and Nostroma.
That is what we were looking for, so that is our answer. So what's wrong with the other answers? Well, answer choice B is a little bit of a confusion of the middle of the argument. The argument does say that both the critics and the public hated the movie. But it doesn't try to argue that the reason that the public hated the movie was because the critics did.
It's just two separate things. Both the public and the critic hated the movie. So answer towards B is not describing anything that was done by the argument. Answer choice C, well, this is a common wrong answer choice on the test. It's basically a circular argument, restating as a conclusion a claim presented as evidence.
Circular arguments are pretty rare on the test and you will know them when you see them. Because the conclusion will be something that was earlier said as evidence that was definitely not something that happened here. Now answer choice D is something that the argument actually contradicts. The argument says that the video game and the movie received different reactions, whereas answer choice D says that the same content in different media should be of roughly equal popularity.
The argument doesn't take this for granted. The argument says that this is not the case. So this is not a flaw committed by this argument. And then finally answer choice E, this answer is describing a very common flaw on the test confusing necessity with sufficiency. But that flaw doesn't happen here because at no point does the author say that anything is necessary for anything else.
So since it's not said it's not our answer, which means the answer is answer choice A
Read full transcriptThe conclusion in this argument comes right there in the second sentence, however, this move is really good from a business perspective. Of course, in order to know what move they're talking about, we have to read the first sentence, so the move is that some video game makers have sold the movie rights for popular games. That's the thing that's really good from a business perspective.
The remainder of the argument is the arguments evidence. It's basically a single case. StarQuanta sold the movie rights to the popular game Nostroma, but they made a bad film out of it, critics hated it, the public hated it. And then after that, subsequent versions of Nostroma, even though they were better, sold poorly.
Now a flaw here is probably obvious from the way that I said the evidence, essentially, we have a single case being used to prove a general rule. Just because things went poorly for StarQuanta doesn't mean that they would go poorly for any video game company that chooses to sell off its movie rights. One example can't really prove a general rule, so that's what we're gonna be looking for in the answer choices.
So let's look at the answers. Answer choice B says that it draws a general conclusion on the basis of just one individual case and that is what I just said a moment ago. That's the problem with this argument. The general conclusion is about all video games, the evidence is just the single case of StarQuanta and Nostroma.
That is what we were looking for, so that is our answer. So what's wrong with the other answers? Well, answer choice B is a little bit of a confusion of the middle of the argument. The argument does say that both the critics and the public hated the movie. But it doesn't try to argue that the reason that the public hated the movie was because the critics did.
It's just two separate things. Both the public and the critic hated the movie. So answer towards B is not describing anything that was done by the argument. Answer choice C, well, this is a common wrong answer choice on the test. It's basically a circular argument, restating as a conclusion a claim presented as evidence.
Circular arguments are pretty rare on the test and you will know them when you see them. Because the conclusion will be something that was earlier said as evidence that was definitely not something that happened here. Now answer choice D is something that the argument actually contradicts. The argument says that the video game and the movie received different reactions, whereas answer choice D says that the same content in different media should be of roughly equal popularity.
The argument doesn't take this for granted. The argument says that this is not the case. So this is not a flaw committed by this argument. And then finally answer choice E, this answer is describing a very common flaw on the test confusing necessity with sufficiency. But that flaw doesn't happen here because at no point does the author say that anything is necessary for anything else.
So since it's not said it's not our answer, which means the answer is answer choice A
