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- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Wed May 10, 2017 3:49 pm
#34706
Complete Question Explanation
Parallel Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (E)
This argument contains two rules, a factual scenario, and a probabilistic conclusion from the
application of the rules to that scenario. The first rule is that Amanda has only ever written blues
songs and punk rock songs. Next, we are told that, typically, punk rock songs do not have any more
than three chords. Combining these two rules, we can say that Amanda has only ever written blues
songs and songs that do not have any more than three chords.
Then, we are given the scenario in which the next song that Amanda writes is not a blues song.
Applying the inference from the two rules to that scenario, the author concludes that the next song
that Amanda writes “probably will not involve more than three chords.”
This is a Parallel Reasoning question. Our prephrase is that the correct answer choice will apply two
rules to a factual scenario to reach a probabilistic prediction about what will occur.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice broadly fits the pattern of the stimulus but is incorrect
because the conclusion does not require the combination of the two rules as occurred in the stimulus.
For this answer choice to be similar, the factual scenario would have been that the next pet owned by
the Gupta family is not a fish.
Answer choice (B): Here, the conclusion is an inference about the pets owned by the Gupta family in
the past, not about the Gupta family’s next pet.
Answer choice (C): In this case, the answer choice is incorrect because its conclusion is more
expansive than occurred in the stimulus, talking about “any pet the Gupta family ever owns,” rather
than the Gupta family’s next pet.
Answer choice (D): This answer choice is incorrect because its factual scenario and conclusion are
stated as the opposite of what occurred in the stimulus, that the next pet is not a parrot, and that the
pet will not be noisy.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice because it most closely matches the logical
structure of the argument in the stimulus. In this answer choice, the fish are like blues songs and the
parrots are like punk rock songs, with the “no more than three chords” characteristic of the punk
rock songs being like the parrot’s noisiness.
Parallel Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (E)
This argument contains two rules, a factual scenario, and a probabilistic conclusion from the
application of the rules to that scenario. The first rule is that Amanda has only ever written blues
songs and punk rock songs. Next, we are told that, typically, punk rock songs do not have any more
than three chords. Combining these two rules, we can say that Amanda has only ever written blues
songs and songs that do not have any more than three chords.
Then, we are given the scenario in which the next song that Amanda writes is not a blues song.
Applying the inference from the two rules to that scenario, the author concludes that the next song
that Amanda writes “probably will not involve more than three chords.”
This is a Parallel Reasoning question. Our prephrase is that the correct answer choice will apply two
rules to a factual scenario to reach a probabilistic prediction about what will occur.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice broadly fits the pattern of the stimulus but is incorrect
because the conclusion does not require the combination of the two rules as occurred in the stimulus.
For this answer choice to be similar, the factual scenario would have been that the next pet owned by
the Gupta family is not a fish.
Answer choice (B): Here, the conclusion is an inference about the pets owned by the Gupta family in
the past, not about the Gupta family’s next pet.
Answer choice (C): In this case, the answer choice is incorrect because its conclusion is more
expansive than occurred in the stimulus, talking about “any pet the Gupta family ever owns,” rather
than the Gupta family’s next pet.
Answer choice (D): This answer choice is incorrect because its factual scenario and conclusion are
stated as the opposite of what occurred in the stimulus, that the next pet is not a parrot, and that the
pet will not be noisy.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice because it most closely matches the logical
structure of the argument in the stimulus. In this answer choice, the fish are like blues songs and the
parrots are like punk rock songs, with the “no more than three chords” characteristic of the punk
rock songs being like the parrot’s noisiness.