try this one!!

[tohellandback]

Odysseus answered well when the priests showed him a picture of those who had honored the gods and then escaped shipwreck, and asked him whether he did not now acknowledge the power of the gods—"Yes," he asked, "but where are those pictured who were drowned after their prayers?" And such is the way of all superstitions; wherein humans, having a delight in such vanities, mark the events where they are fulfilled, but where they fail, though this happens much oftener, neglect and pass them by.

Which one of the following contains the error of reasoning described by the author in the passage?

(A) I have discovered that Friday the 13th really is a day of misfortune. Just this past Friday, the 13th, I locked myself out of the house.
(B) Although Napoleon and Alexander the Great were short, Abraham Lincoln and Charles de Gaulle were tall. So short people seek leadership in order to overcome feelings of inferiority.
(C) Every semester for the past 15 years, an average of 10 percent of Ms. Elliot's history students have dropped her course before the exam. So, it seems likely that we can expect 10 percent to drop out this year.
(D) No reliable observer has ever actually seen a yeti. The strongest evidence seems to be some suspicious tracks. So I think this search for a yeti is probably a wild-goose chase.
(E) I cannot trust my lucky shirt any longer. I wore it to the game today and our team lost.

I have the OA but I am totally confused..plz give your answers with explanation.
Experts could you please tell us whether this one is a tough question by GMAT standards?

[raghavsarathy]

IMO - E

Argument : "Power" of Gods is true only if every wish is fulfilled.

Option E - t-shirt is lucky only if every match for which it is worn is won.

OA ?

[ssmiles08]

IMO its b/w A and E

I pick A.

premise 1: Odysseus answered the priests well when they asked if he and the rest of the crew members were religious and prayed to the gods and therefore escaped the shipwreck.

counter premise 2: Odysseus asks the priests what about the people who prayed and still drowned.

The author then cuts in here and fills in the conclusion by saying:

when an event goes their way, people are moved by prayers and other religious vanities, but if the event doesn't go their way, then its only due to their neglect and nothing else.

A) basically describes another similar version of the conclusion described by the author.

[cameronwu]

I Pick A also.

Here's the error in the stimulus that Odysseus points out:

Priests say "acknowledge the power of the gods" based on premise X. Odysseus points out that this is anecdotal evidence that leaves out the alternative (Praying and Dying as opposed to Praying and Living).

Answer A says: "Acknowledge the misfortune of Friday the 13th" based on Premise Y, that I locked myself out of the house.
Odysseus would point that this is anecdotal evidence and also leaves out the alternative (Friday the 13th without misfortune).

Basically, both premise a conclusion on one event and dismiss the alternative conclusion, given the same premise.

[tohellandback]

OA A

[DanaJ]

I picked A too, but for different reasons. In my eyes, the construction goes as follows: one isolated event is mistakenly considered to be the norm. Odysseus argues that his "positive" experience can't be held as valid in all circumstances, since the priests failed to consider the people that drowned.
In A, we have a similar situation: just because one Friday the 13th was bad, that doesn't mean that all Fridays will be.

[ketkoag]

I selected A because of the statement: "And such is the way of all superstitions; wherein humans, having a delight in such vanities, mark the events where they are fulfilled, but where they fail, though this happens much oftener, neglect and pass them by. "
It says that if such superstitious events fail to make someone to believe in them, people neglect it. And this same case is given in E so the person should neglect it.......

[james33]

I'm pretty confident that A is correct answer.