Flawed ReasoningDiff: Hardest

Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: The speaker says that because some hot days are smoggy and some hot days are windy, there must be some days that are both smoggy and windy.

Conclusion: There are some days when the wind blows from the east and the smog levels are unsafe.

Reasoning: On some hot days, smog is unsafe, and on some hot days, the wind blows from the east.

Analysis: This argument suffers from a classic 'some' overlap flaw. Just because two different conditions (unsafe smog and east winds) both occur within the same broad category (hot days), it does not mean they ever occur at the same time. You should look for an answer that points out the possibility that these two events are mutually exclusive. For example, the smog could reach unsafe levels only on the 'hot and still' days, while the east wind only blows on the 'hot and clear' days.

Passage Stimulus

Passage Redacted

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20.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed in that the argument

Correct Answer
B
B captures the exact flaw: it fails to recognize that one set (hot days) can have members in common with each of two other sets (smog-unsafe days and east-wind days) even if those two other sets have no members in common with each other.
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