Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: A company wants to build an airport, but it only happens if most locals like the idea; since most locals think it'll be too loud, the airport probably won't happen.

Conclusion: It is improbable that the proposed airport will be constructed.

Reasoning: The airport will only be built if a majority of residents support it, but since most residents think it will be noisy, they probably won't support it.

Analysis: This argument commits a classic formal logic error by confusing a sufficient condition with a necessary one. The stimulus states that if the majority favors the proposal, the airport *will* be built, but it never says that a majority favor is the *only* way it can be built. The author assumes that because the 'if' part is unlikely to happen, the 'then' part is also unlikely to happen. Look for an answer that describes this as 'treating a condition that is sufficient for an outcome as if it were necessary for that outcome.'

Passage Stimulus

Passage Redacted

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11.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed in that the argument

Correct Answer
A
A precisely pinpoints the error: the argument treats a sufficient condition for being built (majority support) as if it were necessary, moving from unlikely majority support to unlikely to be built.
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