#20 - So-called environmentalists have argued that the

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (B)

The argument in the stimulus goes as follows:

• Premise: The environmentalists who oppose Golden Lake have opposed objections to most development proposals in recent years.
  
  Conclusion: These people therefore must be anti-development and anti-progress, and their claim should be dismissed without consideration.

Answer choice (A): Taking lack of proof as if it were sufficient to disprove is a logical flaw, but not applicable to the argument in this case.

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. The author makes a Source argument, criticizing the environmentalists’ motives rather than addressing the merits of their argument.

Answer choice (C): This answer is incorrect. There may indeed be a trend in voting, and their opposition in this case may not be the exception to the rule.

Answer choice (D): The evidence in this case might be misinterpreted, but it is not necessarily misrepresented.

Answer choice (E): The author makes no reference to, or assumptions about, the individuals in the group. The argument is based on a critique of the group in general.

[jwooon]

Hi,

When doing Flaw in the Reasoning questions, I have found that attributing each aspect of the answer choice to the stimulus helps me eliminate answers (for example, if the AC says the example is flawed, then I would go back to the stimulus to find what they refer to as "example" and see if it is flawed).

I am able to do this for all ACs, except for (D) where it says "misrepresenting evidence"? I eliminated this answer initially because I couldn't find any evidence that the author misrepresents? What is the evidence in this AC referring to?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Jwooon,

What was the position they were refuting? The argument was refusing the environmentalist position that the new development would be bad for the environment. But the argument doesn't represent their evidence. We don't even know what evidence the environmentalists brought. Without knowing that, we can't know that the argument misrepresented their evidence. That's how I would break down that answer choice.

Hope that helps!