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 Zierra28
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#20325
I'm having difficulty seeing why C is wrong for this question about Jerome and Melvin taking trips, because it seems so close to E, and even possibly why A is wrong. Thanks!
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 Dave Killoran
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#20328
Hi Zierra,

Ok, good question! Let's start with a quick overview of the stimulus. In this argument, the first sentence provides some context for the rest of the argument, as well as the reason Jerome cited for passing on the trip: it's too expensive. The first part of the second sentence is the conclusion of the argument ("cost cannot be the real reason"), and the second part of the second sentence provides the premise that underlies that conclusion: that Jerome always says no to these unscheduled trips. So, on reading that, what was your reaction to the conclusion? Does the fact that Jerome always says no to Melvin mean that cost isn't the reason? I didn't think so, and so my initial feeling was that this is a weak argument.

If Melvin was one of your friends, he sounds like he's a fun guy at least—he apparently likes to take some camping trips and go have some fun. But he's also pretty disorganized! The dude wants to take a week-long trip and he asks Jerome on Saturday, just two days before? That's not cool Melvin, how about giving your friend a bit more notice? :-D

It's also important that the very last sentence specifies that Jerome always says no to these unscheduled trips. Earlier in the argument, the stimulus notes that taking time off without notice means you don't get paid ("wages he would forfeit by taking off without notice"). So, if Jerome were to go on this trip without notice, he's going to lose wages, and that is in addition to what he would have to pay to go on the trip in the first place. It's the kind of thing that you or I would be wary about because it seems unnecessary; just schedule it properly and you won't lose any wages.

Thus, when the argument says that cost isn't the reason, I don't agree that that has to be the case. Melvin gives Jerome no notice, and it would obviously cost Jerome lost wages, and be more expensive than it would had it been properly scheduled.

The question stem is a Flaw in the Reasoning, so the stem confirms what we already knew: this isn't a great argument.

With all that in mind, we head to the answer choices, and you specifically asked about (A) and (C). Let's look at each, and also briefly comment on (E):

  • Answer choice (A): Flaw questions are part of the First Family of questions, meaning they are based on the facts of the stimulus. These are "did it actually happen" kind of questions where the Fact Test typically plays a role. You can always check Flaw answers by first making sure that what is in the answer choice actually happened. So, in this one, does the author attempt to forestall an attack on Melvin? I don't see that happening here simply because all it says about Melvin is that he asked Jerome to go on this vacation. Is this argument really talking about Jerome simply to take the heat off of Melvin? I wouldn't say so, but during the test if you were uncertain, you could say to yourself "I don't love this but I'll hold it just in case nothing else seems better."

    Answer choice (C): The argument actually allows for the fact that Jerome prefers scheduled vacations (and this is the case despite not explicitly mentioning this in the stimulus). Why? Because the argument rejects the case that cost is the reason, and that opens the door to something else being the factor (such as a preference for scheduled vacations). So, to me, this is a tricky answer because it uses the phrase "overlooks the possibility" and then the possibility isn't mentioned. That makes it seem like the answer happened. But, it's the case here that by rejecting cost, the argument at least allows for the scheduled vacation preference option, which means that saying that it "overlooked" it isn't known to have occurred.

    Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer, and it does occur. From my analysis above, I thought the argument was weak because cost really could be the reason Jerome always says no. But the argument rejects that and then really doesn't go into any further detail about it; it just says that cost isn't the reason because he keeps saying no, and that's it.
So, take a close look at (C)—the way they constructed that is really well done, and I can see why it was attractive to you.

Please let me know if that helps, or if you have further questions. Thanks!
 Xantippe
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#35611
I ended up answering D, though E (the correct answer) was a contender. I might have been tripped up by reading the question stem as a Family 3 (weaken) rather than a Family 1 (prove). LRB 2014 ed.

Regardless of whether a misunderstanding of Family types was a factor, I realize now that D was a poor choice because Melvin does not concede that Jerome has a reason not to go with him, as suggested by (D) It assumes that if Jerome's professed reason is not his only reason, then it cannot be a real reason for Jerome at all. . However, based on the stimulus, Melvin believes that Jerome is making up an excuse. Melvin never entertains the possibility of any reason, as D indicates. So I was wrong and I want to hit myself for analyzing this question ad nauseam.
 Kristina Moen
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#35617
Hi xantippe,

Don't hit yourself, learn from the question and apply what you learn to future questions! The basic difference between a Weaken and a Flaw question is that a Weaken question asks you to actively weaken (or attack) the argument and a Flaw question only asks you to point out the flaw (or weakness) in the argument. Here, a quick glance at the answer choices can also tell you that you are looking to describe or point out the flaw.

Answer choice (D) talks about an assumption - remember, an assumption is something that MUST BE TRUE for the argument to hold. Here, the argument never stated that Jerome's reason was not his only reason, so the author could have made any assumptions based on that condition.
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 Rosepose24
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#90743
As I was reading over the explanation, I saw that the elimination of C took a different process than my own elimination for it.

I did not initially consider that by claiming "cost is not the real reason", the author opens the the possibility for another reason (planned vacation preference, summer vacations only, winter vacations only) as technically being considered or not... Either way, it's not PROVEN by the stimulus to be overlooked yet. It could just be that implicitly that is the reason (preferring a planned trip) being thought of instead and the claim (that its not cost) is still being made regardless. So C does not NECESSARILY (MBT subset) happen in the stimulus.

Let me know if I understood that correctly. ^

How I eliminated C as contender against E was that it slips in -UNLIKE Melvin. I know from the stimulus that the first part of C (alternate reason) could be true... it could be overlooked, and it could be another reason- one of those reasons can be that Jerome prefers it planned ahead. If all that is true by the fact test in the best scenario.... then I still can't tell you the stimulus proves to me that J UNLIKE M prefers it planned.

For example, what if Melvin only likes planned vacations too. From the stimulus, that still appears to be possible by the events. All that I know is that he TOLD Jerome on Saturday. For all I know from the stimulus, Melvin planned his mountain trip 3 months ago, and planned all the other following trips 3 months in advance and booked his own time off work, yet is so disorganized he didn't tell his friend in advance. I was not confident the stimulus proved that it was a possibility for Jerome and NOT a possibility for Melvin.

Since it did not follow the "prove family, fact testing" its eliminated. E was then the strongest choice.

Is this "unlike Melvin" a good way to think about it/ remove it? Am I making any assumptions that go too far in eliminating C?
 Adam Tyson
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#91222
That's another good reason to reject answer C, Rosepose24! We don't know that Melvin truly does prefer not to plan far in advance, so in that sense this answer choice is fully "true." It's true that it overlooked the possibility that Jerome prefers that, but for a Flaw answer to be correct it has to be ENTIRELY true, and this answer fails that test.

It also fails to pass another test that all good Flaw answers must pass, and that is that the answer has to describe something that would be a problem for the author. In other words, it must describe a flaw! But answer C describes something that, if true, would actually HELP this author by showing that it may not be just cost that motivated Jerome's behavior. Giving Jerome another reason for rejecting Melvin's offers supports, rather than harms, the argument. That's not something a good Flaw answer should do!

Well done!

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