Q1 - Anna: Did you know that rainbows

[kim]

1. (C)
Question Type: Identify a Flaw
William argues that Pliny the Elder’s claim cannot be correct, but supports his position only with examples of other claims by Pliny the Elder that have turned out to be false. Just because Pliny the Elder was not always correct does not mean that he cannot be correct in this case. Answer choice (C) highlights this flaw.

(A) is incorrect. William does not discuss Anna’s conclusion, only Pliny the Elder’s claim.
(B) is out of scope. William’s argument does not discuss the reasons that Pliny the Elder made his claims (bad faith or otherwise).
(D) is a contradiction. William rejects, rather than accepts, Pliny the Elder’s claim.
(E) is out of scope. William does not discuss the age of Pliny the Elder’s writings.


#officialexplanation

[lai.heidar]

I had a tough time identifying C as the correct flaw.

I thought William was using a more extreme analogy to prove Anna was incorrect so I choose A for the answer. I have two problems for this answer choice C. One is that I don't see how William asserts that Pliny's writings are 'incorrect' and I just don't see how William 'contradicts' himself in this question.

I can see if the answer the answer choice said, "just because Pliny made an assertion about tribes of dog headed people.." but answer choice C is that it says "incorrect" assertion where William could be talking about something mythological but not necessarily "incorrect".

I don't see how this is defined as contradiction because he does not go against what he says. He supports himself with a something not applicable to Anna's argument.

I hope this makes sense.

Please help.

[VickX462]

I had a tough time identifying C as the correct flaw.

I thought William was using a more extreme analogy to prove Anna was incorrect so I choose A for the answer. I have two problems for this answer choice C. One is that I don't see how William asserts that Pliny's writings are 'incorrect' and I just don't see how William 'contradicts' himself in this question.

I can see if the answer the answer choice said, "just because Pliny made an assertion about tribes of dog headed people.." but answer choice C is that it says "incorrect" assertion where William could be talking about something mythological but not necessarily "incorrect".

I don't see how this is defined as contradiction because he does not go against what he says. He supports himself with a something not applicable to Anna's argument.

I hope this makes sense.

Please help.

For answer choice A, Williams did not distort Anna's conclusion. Anna's conclusion, presented in the form of a question, is the first sentence of the stimulus. William did not respond directly to Anna's conclusion about rainbow; instead, he attacked Anna's premise by pointing out the nonsense Pliny the Elder wrote.

For your concern about answer choice C. William's conclusion here is "His claim [about the rainbow] cannot be correct." Although William did not point out directly that Elder's claim about dog-headed people is incorrect, he used the claim about dog-headed people to support his conclusion that Elder's claim about rainbow cannot be correct. Thus, it is safe to say that William thinks that Elder's assertions about rainbow are incorrect.

I don't see a contradiction in answer choice C. Could you elaborate?

Hope it helps.