Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: Because Ms. Tarnowski's class won the prize for the highest total number of cans collected, the author concludes that the individual student who collected the most cans must also be in that class.

Conclusion: The student who collected the most aluminum cans in the school must be in Ms. Tarnowski's class.

Reasoning: Ms. Tarnowski's class as a whole collected a higher total number of cans than any other individual class in the school.

Analysis: This argument commits a classic error of logic by assuming that a property of a group (the highest total sum) must be reflected in an individual member (the highest single value). It is entirely possible for a class of thirty average collectors to have a higher total than a class with one superstar collector and twenty-nine students who did nothing. To find the parallel flaw, look for an answer choice that attributes an individual 'record' or 'maximum' to a member of the group that holds the 'maximum' aggregate total. We are essentially looking for a confusion between a collective 'most' and an individual 'most.'

Passage Stimulus

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5.

Which one of the following arguments contains flawed reasoning that is most parallel to that in the argument above?

Correct Answer
D
D mirrors the exact flawed move: infers from a class having the greatest total ticket sales to the claim that the top ticket-selling student must be in that class.
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