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- Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:00 am
#73708
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (D).
A fairly straightforward Source Argument occurs in this stimulus, which means that the author attacked some characteristic of their opponent rather than focusing on what they said or did. As with many such arguments, the author has focused on the supposed motives of the people making promises, presuming without warrant that if they made those promises with selfish motives that they would not then keep their promises. This overlooks the possibility that even a promise made for a selfish reason might still be kept by the person who made it.
Incidentally, this question is a good example of how the difficulty of questions does not simply rise from easy to hard over the course of a section of LR. Often, fairly easy questions can be found among the last 10 questions in a section, especially near the very end like this. That's why it is so important not to allow yourself to get bogged down on harder questions earlier in the section. You definitely do not want to run out of time before reaching this one!
Answer choice (A): This answer is a bit of a shell game compared to what we are looking for. The author makes no presumptions about unselfish promises, but only about ones made for selfish reasons.
Answer choice (B): Although this answer is very attractive and close to our prephrase, "never kept" is too strong in this case, as the author only argued that such promises are unreliable. That leaves room for the possibility that they are sometimes kept, even if one should not rely on that happening.
Answer choice (C): The argument is not in any way causal, and so this answer is just a distraction.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. This answer matches what we are looking for, because the author did overlook the possibility that a promise made with ulterior motives still might be reliable.
Answer choice (E): "Worthy of office" is not an issue in this argument and has nothing to do with whether certain promises may or may not be reliable.
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (D).
A fairly straightforward Source Argument occurs in this stimulus, which means that the author attacked some characteristic of their opponent rather than focusing on what they said or did. As with many such arguments, the author has focused on the supposed motives of the people making promises, presuming without warrant that if they made those promises with selfish motives that they would not then keep their promises. This overlooks the possibility that even a promise made for a selfish reason might still be kept by the person who made it.
Incidentally, this question is a good example of how the difficulty of questions does not simply rise from easy to hard over the course of a section of LR. Often, fairly easy questions can be found among the last 10 questions in a section, especially near the very end like this. That's why it is so important not to allow yourself to get bogged down on harder questions earlier in the section. You definitely do not want to run out of time before reaching this one!
Answer choice (A): This answer is a bit of a shell game compared to what we are looking for. The author makes no presumptions about unselfish promises, but only about ones made for selfish reasons.
Answer choice (B): Although this answer is very attractive and close to our prephrase, "never kept" is too strong in this case, as the author only argued that such promises are unreliable. That leaves room for the possibility that they are sometimes kept, even if one should not rely on that happening.
Answer choice (C): The argument is not in any way causal, and so this answer is just a distraction.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. This answer matches what we are looking for, because the author did overlook the possibility that a promise made with ulterior motives still might be reliable.
Answer choice (E): "Worthy of office" is not an issue in this argument and has nothing to do with whether certain promises may or may not be reliable.