Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: Since many different groups of people all decided on their own that honey makes you live longer, we should believe them until someone proves them wrong.

Conclusion: We should treat the claim that daily honey consumption improves health as true until someone proves otherwise.

Reasoning: Multiple different cultures have arrived at the same conclusion about honey's benefits entirely on their own.

Analysis: The structure of this argument is: 'Independent sources agree on X, therefore X should be the default assumption.' It establishes a rebuttable presumption based on a consensus of independent observations. When looking for a parallel, find an argument that starts with widespread, independent agreement and concludes that we should accept that agreement as fact unless it is debunked. The subject matter doesn't matter; the logical 'skeleton' of consensus-based presumption is what you are matching.

Passage Stimulus

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17.

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

Correct Answer
A
A mirrors the structure: three independent engineers all conclude the bridge is safe, so—unless good evidence shows it’s unsafe—we should consider it safe. That is the same appeal to independent agreement plus a defeasible default rule.
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