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Sarah, who is an excellent mechanic, said that

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Sarah, who is an excellent mechanic, said that

by vinni.k » Sat Feb 16, 2013 11:56 pm
Sarah, who is an excellent mechanic, said that in her opinion the used car John is considering is in good mechanical condition. However, it is clear that Sarah cannot be trusted to give an honest opinion, since when Emmett asked her opinion of his new haircut she lied and said she thought it looked good. Therefore, it is very likely that Sarah also lied in giving her opinion of the mechanical condition of that car.

The argument is flawed by virtue of having committed which one of the following errors of reasoning ?

(A) It fails to offer any grounds for the attack it makes on the character of the person.

(B) It confuses claims about the past with claims about the future.

(C) It bases a sweeping claim on the evidence provided by an instance that is not clearly relevant.

(D) It presents evidence in value-laden terms that presuppose the conclusion for which that evidence is offered.

(E) It wrongly assumes that because someone is a competent judge of one kind of thing, that person will be a competent judge of a very different kind of thing.

Answer is C

Please explain why E cannot be the answer.

Thanks & Regards
Vinni
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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Feb 17, 2013 5:29 am
vinni.k wrote:Sarah, who is an excellent mechanic, said that in her opinion the used car John is considering is in good mechanical condition. However, it is clear that Sarah cannot be trusted to give an honest opinion, since when Emmett asked her opinion of his new haircut she lied and said she thought it looked good. Therefore, it is very likely that Sarah also lied in giving her opinion of the mechanical condition of that car.

The argument is flawed by virtue of having committed which one of the following errors of reasoning ?

(A) It fails to offer any grounds for the attack it makes on the character of the person.

(B) It confuses claims about the past with claims about the future.

(C) It bases a sweeping claim on the evidence provided by an instance that is not clearly relevant.

(D) It presents evidence in value-laden terms that presuppose the conclusion for which that evidence is offered.

(E) It wrongly assumes that because someone is a competent judge of one kind of thing, that person will be a competent judge of a very different kind of thing.

Answer is C
This passage makes an ANALOGY.

Premise: When asked about EMMET'S HAIRCUT, Sarah lied.
Conclusion: Sarah also lied when giving her opinion of JOHN'S CAR.

The assumption is that a lack of honesty in ONE CASE is sufficient to prove a lack of honesty in OTHER CASES.
Answer choice C points out this flaw:
It bases a sweeping claim (that Sarah cannot be trusted to give an honest opinion) on the evidence provided by an instance that is not clearly relevant (Sarah's lack of honesty with regard to EMMET'S HAIRCUT does not prove a lack of honesty with regard to JOHN'S CAR).

The correct answer is C.

Answer choice E is outside the scope.
The premise and the conclusion are about HONESTY, not competency.
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by vinni.k » Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:41 am
GMATGuruNY wrote: Answer choice E is outside the scope.
The premise and the conclusion are about HONESTY, not competency.
Thanks Mitch. I agree to your explanation about (C). However, i am still not clear about E.
Please check the following:-

World-renowned neurologist Dr. XYZ says EZBrite Tooth Strips are the best for whitening your teeth.
So, you know if you buy EZBrite you will soon have the whitest teeth possible.

Not a best example in comparison to this particular question, but it clearly shows that the judgement is applied to matter in which neurologist knowledge is irrelevant.

So what about Sarah. She is an excellent mechanic, so she has knowledge in her field. How can she lie in giving her opinion of the mechanical condition of the car. She might lie in giving her opinion about the hair.

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by David@VeritasPrep » Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:15 pm
This question is quite familiar to me. An LSAT question from the February 1997 LSAT Test. For this reason it is a little different than an official GMAT question, but it is still a good one to look at.

In response to your inquiry about choice E, the answer lies where it very often does on critical reasoning, with the conclusion!

At Veritas we say "conclusion is king" because every word matters. The same is true here. What does the conclusion say??? That "Sarah cannot be trusted to give an honest opinion..." This has nothing to do with be an expert right? I am not an expert in websites but I can give my opinion about which ones I like. I can give my honest, if uninformed opinion.

So the real difference that you should see, as Mitch has said, is that she told a "little white lie" to not offend someone, which is very different than lying about your area of expertise. Your example would have been better if the neurologist's mother asked "does this dress make me look fat?" and he said, "no" even when it did. That is the same sort of lie as the thing about Sarah and the haircut!!!
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