PrepTest 140, Section 3, Question 18
By Brandon Beaver | Published October 29, 2024
Type: Flaw
Difficulty:
Explanations
This argument makes no sense.
The author claims it’s clearly untrue that most companies would be wasting their money if they bought videoconferencing equipment. Why? Because a recent survey of businesses that had bought such equipment said buying it was worth the cost.
That’s using feedback from companies who have already made such a purchase with companies who haven’t. What if the big differentiator between these two groups is simply that companies who buy such equipment need such equipment? We have no reason to believe all, or even most, companies need this equipment. So, why wouldn’t such companies be wasting money by purchasing it?
It turns out to be a Flaw question, so we need an answer choice that’s both present in the argument and points out the author’s error in reasoning. Here, I want something like, “depends on a sample that doesn’t necessarily represent a group about which a claim is made.”
Let’s see.
A
No, the conclusion isn’t that the equipment is worth its costs, it’s that most companies wouldn’t be wasting money by buying it.
B
Nope. The author never treats anything as a requirement for purchasing videoconferencing equipment.
C
No, again. The author offers support for their own conclusion, they don’t claim the opposition is wrong because they made an illogical argument.
D
Bingo, just as predicted. Companies that purchase videoconferencing equipment and companies that simply haven’t yet aren’t necessarily going to value such equipment the same way. Some might need it. Others might not. This is the answer.
E
Nah. We never get into the specific cost of equipment relative to how a company values it.
Passage
A recent magazine article argued that most companies that do
Question 18
The reasoning in the argument is flawed in that the argument