Flawed ReasoningDiff: Medium
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: Every country kid and half the city kids eat the school lunch. Since some of the kids in the lunch program also do sports or drama, the principal thinks both groups must be represented in those activities.
Conclusion: Some students participating in extracurricular activities are from rural areas, while others are from urban areas.
Reasoning: All rural students and approximately half of the urban students participate in the school's lunch program, and some members of this lunch program also participate in extracurriculars.
Analysis: The principal is making a classic 'overlap' error. Just because the extracurricular group is a subset of the lunch program doesn't mean it must contain a representative sample of everyone in that program. It is entirely possible that the 'some' students in drama and sports are exclusively rural or exclusively urban. Look for an answer that points out this failure to prove that the extracurricular group must include members from both sub-populations. A little bit of 'some' doesn't go as far as the principal hopes it does.
Conclusion: Some students participating in extracurricular activities are from rural areas, while others are from urban areas.
Reasoning: All rural students and approximately half of the urban students participate in the school's lunch program, and some members of this lunch program also participate in extracurriculars.
Analysis: The principal is making a classic 'overlap' error. Just because the extracurricular group is a subset of the lunch program doesn't mean it must contain a representative sample of everyone in that program. It is entirely possible that the 'some' students in drama and sports are exclusively rural or exclusively urban. Look for an answer that points out this failure to prove that the extracurricular group must include members from both sub-populations. A little bit of 'some' doesn't go as far as the principal hopes it does.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage23.The reasoning in the principal's argument is flawed because this argument
Correct Answer
C
Correct. The argument fails because the fact that some lunch participants also do extracurriculars doesn’t guarantee that both rural and urban students are among those extracurricular participants; the overlap could consist solely of one group.
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