#22 - Food that is very high in fat tends to be unhealthy.

[ehilliard]

Hello,

I approached 22 with this thinking:
Flaw - broad conclusion drawn about health that fails to consider a lot of other information
Structure - Claim about something followed by direct comparison of two entities and conclusion that one or the other is "better."

I ended up getting stuck between B and D. Although B seemed better, I couldn't figure out why to eliminate D. The only thing I noticed in hindsight is that in D the thing with "more" is listed first whereas in the question and in B, the lower fat and fewer vitamins option is listed first. Is that enough for elimination?

On a more general note, I struggle with parallels and parallel flaws. I think part of it has to do with time pressure, but do you have any suggestions for how to best practice these? I try to break down the argument and look for conditionality etc. but am open to any ideas for getting faster and more accurate.

Thanks in advance!
Erin

[Dave Killoran]

Hey Erin,

Thanks for the question! If you get a chance, let me know what studying you've done so far and what materials you have—that way I can refer you to certain sections to read more about Parallel questions

This question is probably easier than it looks at first. When you read the stimulus, remember that the order of presentation doesn't matter, so what appears first or second won't be pivotal. Instead, it's how the argument is structured; for example, are the premises and conclusion similar (regardless of order)? In this case, the first premise presents a general correlation based on a probability: "tend to be unhealthy." Then a comparison is made, and then a rock solid causal conclusion is drawn ("are healthier") wherein that premise correlation is used to make the claim that the cookies are less healthy than the brownies. So, what I want in my answer are similar elements: the "tend to" part, the comparison, and the rock-solid conclusion (not necessarily in that order).

With that in mind, the answers can be separated really quickly:

• (A): I dislike it immediately! The premise uses "always," which bit different than
  "tend" to."
  
  (B): "generally" is the same as "tend to," so I like this. The other premise—which appears at the end, which is ok—is similar, as is the conclusion. Strong contender right away, and I don't see any problems with it.
  
  (C): Again, our premise language ("needs") is fundamentally different than that in the stimulus.
  
  (D): That first premise is different than the the comparable premise in the stimulus: "Some types make" is different than "tends to." The conclusion language is also dissimilar: ""more likely" vs "are." Seen from this angle, this one can be killed off immediately. That said, note the tricky test-making being used here: they shifted the "tends" to language from the premise into the conclusion, so it still exists. Problem is, it's in the wrong place, and that's enough to knock this one out.
  
  (E): Again, that premise is different "costs more" is definitive, unlike "tends to."

There are some really powerful techniques we use for Parallel and Parallel Flaw questions, and the above discussion shows some of those approaches. Please let me know if that helped, and if you let me know what material you have, I'll give you some references so you can read more about it.

Thanks!

[ehilliard]

Hi Dave,

That was really helpful, thanks! I need to remember not to focus on the specific order of the argument parts, that is part of what tripped me up in this question. I appreciate the breakdown of each of the answer choices, B makes total sense now.

I have all of the PowerScore books from the online course and access to the student portal. Would appreciate any reading or practice recommendations you have! I have read about the process of eliminating answers based on probability v. certainty, quantity indicators etc. but have a hard time applying it accurately.

Thanks,
Erin

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Erin,

Great, glad that helped! Order is never something that matters in Parallel or Parallel Flaw questions, and doing a question like this helps to reinforce that point. Hopefully the way the "tend to" worked in this problem also showed you that applying that idea can be fairly straightforward at times. This is a really good example of a problem that can be unlocked pretty quickly, as long as you know what to look for

The first place I want to send you is to Lesson 8 HW, pages 8-33 (you'll see the discussion of why order isn't important here) through page 8-48. I'm betting that this section will help you out quite a bit with these questions.

Good luck and please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks!