Critical Reasoning

Studies show that children who watch too much television are more likely than others to become obese adults. Jacob, who is an obese adult, must have watched more television as a child than I did, since I am not obese.

Which of the following most closely parallels the logical structure above ?

A) The hardware store on Main Street must have had a bigger advertisement in the Sunday paper than the hardware store around the corner had. The hardware store on Main Street sold twice as many items as the hardware store around the corner did last week, and a Sunday paper advertisement has been shown to increase the number of items sold.
B) Studies show that large dogs lives shorter lives, on average, than small dogs do. Rex is a large dog and therefore might be expected to live a shorter life than Mustang, who is a small dog.
C) The county superintendent stated that all schools would be canceled for the day if snowfall last night were greater than six inches. Therefore, since the snowfall was only five inches, we must be following the usual school schedule today.
D) According to research, people with unusual musical talent do not achieve their true potential unless they are given formal lessons. Therefore Jesse, who has achieved his full musical potential without formal lessons must not have unusual musical talent.
E) People who like vegetables also like fruits. Elizabeth does not like fruits, so she must not like vegetables either.

#Veritas.

The answer to this question is A. The general reasoning for the argument goes as follows:

If condition A, then Result B.
Since Result B, then condition A must also have been met.

The only option that does this is A.

The hardware store on Main Street must have had a bigger advertisement in the Sunday paper than the hardware store around the corner had. The hardware store on Main Street sold twice as many items as the hardware store around the corner did last week, and a Sunday paper advertisement has been shown to increase the number of items sold.

champwix wrote:Studies show that children who watch too much television are more likely than others to become obese adults. Jacob, who is an obese adult, must have watched more television as a child than I did, since I am not obese.

Which of the following most closely parallels the logical structure above ?

A) The hardware store on Main Street must have had a bigger advertisement in the Sunday paper than the hardware store around the corner had. The hardware store on Main Street sold twice as many items as the hardware store around the corner did last week, and a Sunday paper advertisement has been shown to increase the number of items sold.
B) Studies show that large dogs lives shorter lives, on average, than small dogs do. Rex is a large dog and therefore might be expected to live a shorter life than Mustang, who is a small dog.
C) The county superintendent stated that all schools would be canceled for the day if snowfall last night were greater than six inches. Therefore, since the snowfall was only five inches, we must be following the usual school schedule today.
D) According to research, people with unusual musical talent do not achieve their true potential unless they are given formal lessons. Therefore Jesse, who has achieved his full musical potential without formal lessons must not have unusual musical talent.
E) People who like vegetables also like fruits. Elizabeth does not like fruits, so she must not like vegetables either.

MAP OUT the logic of the passage and that of each answer choice and look for the BEST MATCH.

Diagram of the passage:
Too much TV ---> Weight gain.
Jacob weighs more than I do.
Conclusion:
Jacob greater amount of weight ---> Jacob watched more TV than I did.

Diagram of A:
Sunday advertisement ---> Sales increase.
The Main Street store sold twice as many items as the store around the corner.
Conclusion:
The Main Street store's higher sales ---> the Main Street store had a bigger Sunday advertisement.
This logic here matches that of the passage.

The correct answer is A.

Hello Experts,
Please explain what is wrong with B.I think B follows the same diagram as the question argument.

Also I have a doubt in option A,

The conclusion says Sunday advertisement leads to number of items sold.

Sunday Ads --> More sales

But how can we justify BIGGER Sunday Ad --> More Sales.
Can't it be the case that only Sunday advertisement is important for more sales.It hardly matters whether the advertisement is big or small.

aaggar7 wrote:Hello Experts,
Please explain what is wrong with B.I think B follows the same diagram as the question argument.

Diagram of the passage:
Premise:
Too much TV ---> Obesity.
Conclusion:
Jacob's Obesity ---> Jacob watched too much TV.
The conclusion here REVERSES the causal relationship.

Diagram of B:
Premise:
Largeness ---> Short Life.
Conclusion:
Rex's largeness ---> Rex might have a short life.
This answer choice DOES NOT REVERSE the causal relationship.
Since B does not mimic the reasoning in the passage, eliminate B.

Also I have a doubt in option A,

The conclusion says Sunday advertisement leads to number of items sold.

Sunday Ads --> More sales

But how can we justify BIGGER Sunday Ad --> More Sales.
Can't it be the case that only Sunday advertisement is important for more sales.It hardly matters whether the advertisement is big or small.

The goal is to find an answer choice that mimics the reasoning in the passage.
The conclusion in A (the Main Street store had a BIGGER SUNDAY ADVERTISEMENT than did the store around the corner) mimics the conclusion in the passage (Jacob watched MORE TV than I did).
Please note that the reasoning does not have to be sound: as shown above, the conclusion in the passage is FLAWED in that it reverses the causal relationship suggested by the premise.
The conclusion in A mimics this flawed reasoning.

Why would option C be incorrect? I believe this argument is of a causal nature, and given below is what I understand from it

Cause: Too much TV
Effect: Likelihood of becoming obese adult

Jacob is an obese adult which implies that the effect is there and therefore the author assumes that the cause must have triggered it. Since the same effect was missing in the author, he assumes that the cause was absent in his case.

Which of the following most closely parallels the logical structure above ?

Option c:

Cause: Snow fall greater than 6 inches
Effect: Schools are shut.

Since it snows 5 inches, cause is absent therefore it is assumed that effect will not follow (i.e. school will not be shut).