Q8 - If a garden does not receive

[Laura Damone]

Question Type:
ID the Flaw

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: Patricia's garden will be productive.

Evidence: If a garden doesn't get plenty of water and sun and is not planted in rich soil, then it won't be productive. Patricia's garden is in a location with great water and sun, and she made sure the soil is rich by adding fertilizer and compost.

Answer Anticipation:
Illegal Reversal! If your garden doesn't get stuff, it won't be productive. But that doesn’t mean that if it does get those things, it will be productive.

Correct answer:


Answer choice analysis:
(A) A classic trap! Did the argument specifiy the meaning of "ideal?" Nope. But it didn't need to specify the meaning of that term in context! "Ideal" means "ideal." It's not a term that shifts in meaning. Just because the argument fails to do something doesn't mean that failure is a flaw!

(B) Our argument is about conditional logic, not cause and effect. That might be hard to see here because in reality, water, sun and soil are causes of a productive garden. Notice, however, the "If, then" structure of the premise. That's a clear sign that we're in conditional logic territory. That said, even if you can't get past the conditional/causal split, you can still eliminate this answer. B says the argument "infers a cause" but the conclusion of this argument is that the garden will be productive. That's not a cause. Eliminate!

(C) Again, this argument isn't causal, it's conditional. This one is more tempting than B because confusing cause and effect is pretty similar to confusing sufficient and necessary conditions, which is, in essence what an Illegal Reversal does. However, nowhere in this argument do we mix up potential causes (water, sun, soil) with potential effects (productive or unproductive gardens). So, even if you see causality here instead of conditional logic, you can still eliminate this answer.

(D) Correct! Taking a necessary condition and treating it like it's sufficient is an Illegal Reversal. We know good water, sun, and soil are necessary for a productive garden, but that doesn’t mean they'll guarantee one.

(E) No way. There is no sample from which data is drawn in the premises, and data from the premises isn't projected onto a larger, more diverse subset in the conclusion.

Takeaway/Pattern:
Beware the difference between conditionality and causality! Even if something seems like it's causal in real life, look to the phrasing of the stimulus to determine how the relationship is presented in the question. The "If/then" format tells us concretely that this is a conditional presentation, not a causal one.

#officialexplanation

[JonhG568]

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