Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: Most dirt has clay, and nearly all dirt has either sand or compost. The author concludes that there must be some dirt that contains both clay and sand, as well as some with both clay and compost.

Conclusion: There must be specific overlaps between clay and sand, and clay and organic material.

Reasoning: Since most soil has clay and almost all has one of the other two, the author assumes these groups must overlap.

Analysis: This is a classic 'overlap' flaw. Just because 'most' things have property A and 'most' have property B or C doesn't mathematically guarantee they overlap in the way described, especially if the 'most' isn't quite large enough to force an intersection. We need to find an argument that takes two broad categories and assumes they must share members. It's like saying most people like coffee and most people like tea, so someone must like both—it's likely, but not logically certain.

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21.

The pattern of flawed reasoning in which one of the following arguments is most parallel to that in the argument above?

Correct Answer
E
Choice E mirrors the structure: most pharmacies sell cosmetics (C); nearly all sell shampoo or toothpaste (S ∨ T); therefore there must be some C ∧ T and some C ∧ S. It makes the same too-strong leap to both overlaps.
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