#3007

[mjc597]

The question says that Ted prefers comics to Shakespeare. Assumption 2: Ted is never assigned comics in class, but is assigned Shakespeare in class. Conclusion: "Ted prefers to read material outside of what he is assigned in class."

Huh? It would only be a sound conclusion if the assumption were "Ted is never assigned comics in class and is ONLY assigned Shakespeare in class." We don't know what else Ted is assigned in class aside from Shakespeare, and how Ted feels about those other assignments in relation to comics. So it could be true that Ted prefers to read what he is assigned in class over outside material, including comics, if he generally prefers the other assigned materials (i.e. non-Shakespearean works) to comics.
The other assumption is also problematic because finding something to be more fun is not "logically" the same as preferring it. For example, Ted might prefer to read books that he finds less fun. It still seems to be the better assumption, however, because you could argue that, at the most fundamental level, it is impossible to not prefer to do something that you find to be more fun than the alternative. In that case, assumption 1 would force the conclusion on its own. I recognize that is not the way that P+A=C problems are supposed to work.

Can someone explain this problem?

[mshinners]

I think your analysis is spot-on here. We can't go with the second assumption because of the issue you mention (prefer =/= more fun). And the first answer also has the issue that you mention - we'd need to know that the class doesn't assign anything other than Shakespeare!

Great spot on this! It's the type of high-level analysis that's going to serve you well on the actual exam. Now, let us sheepishly go lick our wounds and edit the question...