Parallel ReasoningDiff: Hardest

Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: Since this publisher's nonfiction never makes money, and they made money on everything they put out last year, they couldn't have put out any nonfiction.

Conclusion: Carriage Books did not release any nonfiction titles during the previous year.

Reasoning: Nonfiction books from this publisher never turn a profit, but every single book they published last year was profitable.

Analysis: This is a logically valid argument using the contrapositive structure: If A (nonfiction), then B (no profit). Since we have Not B (profit), we must have Not A (not nonfiction). To find a parallel, look for a set of premises where a general rule is established, a specific set of circumstances contradicts the outcome of that rule, and the conclusion denies the trigger of that rule. The logic is airtight, so the correct answer must also be a valid deduction rather than a fallacy.

Passage Stimulus

Passage Redacted

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23.

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

Correct Answer
C
C matches the form: No marketing-division employees have ever been given a bonus (A -> not P). All systems analysts last year were given bonuses (B -> P). Therefore, none of those systems analysts were in marketing (B -> not A).
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