Preptest(s) help please

[Pepperdine2010]

Hi  ,

I have a few questions.

Preptest 16, St 2, #11

The stimulus is as follows: When the needle of a sewing machine becomes badly worn it can ruin clothes. In traditional apparel factories, the people who operate the sewing machines also monitor needles and replace those that are worn. Industrial sewing operations are becoming increasingly automated so it would be inefficient to hire people for the sake of monitoring needles. In conclusion, there is a new device which monitors worn needles that is expected to become standard equipment in automated apparel factories of the future.

Question stem: must be true

Correct answer: the needles of industrial sewing machines wear out at unpredictable rates.

Can someone explain to me why that is the correct answer? I don't understand the logic.


Preptest # 11, St 2, # 21

The stimulus is as follows: A society that has many crimes should not be called lawless. That is an abuse of the meaning of words because "less" means "without" so "lawless" mean "without laws". A society that has no laws has no crimes because no laws would be broken. A lawless society would then be a crimeless society. In conclusion, what some people say is a lawless society should actually be called "crimeful".

Question stem: must be true

Correct answer: A society that has some crimes has some laws.

I don't understand this answer. If this question is a lesson in formal logic where "some" is the inherent inference of "many", then I guess I understand why the answer is correct. If this question is not a lesson in formal logic, then I just don't get it.


Prepest #7, St 5, # 19

Stimulus: It takes 365.25 days for the Earth to make one revolution around the Sun. A year is 365 days long with an extra day added every four years which is divided into 52 seven-day weeks. Since 52 times 7 is only 364, anniversaries do not fall on the same day of the week. In conclusion, many scheduling problems could be avoided if the last day of each year and an additional day every fourth year belonged to no week, so January 1 would be a Sunday every year.

Question stem: when the proposal above is put into effect which one of the following groups would encounter scheduling conflicts?

Correct answer: employed people whose strict religious observances require them to refrain from working every 7th day.

I don't undertsand this one at all!




Thank you for taking the time to read this. As always, I greatly appreciate it! 

[marcus-aurelius]

I'm in a little bit of a rush, so I'll throw some help for the first and second  question.  I have not had the chance to look at the third.

Sewing is becoming automated.  IF the needles wore down at the same rate at each other, there would be an exact timetable to replace the needles.  Thus there would be no reason to have a device that monitors the needles.  The fact that a device is needed shows that the needles wear at different rates


For the second, a law has to exist for a crime to exist. A society that has no laws has no crimes because no laws would be broken can be translated to- If no law, then no crime.  Contrapositive, If crime, then law.  Thus, if there is a crime, there has to be at least 1 (some) law

[marcus-aurelius]

Without seeing the rest of the answers from your third question, here is how I see it.

By adding an extra day that belonged to no week, groups that had to take every 7 days off would be affected as follow: say every Sunday is supposed to be their "off day".  You throw in an extra day belonging to no week one time, now the off day is Saturday.  Do it again, now it is on Friday, etc.


Jeffort and others here may be able to explain it more conscisily than I can.  So hopefully they will add some to my answers

[Julie Fern]

"conscisily"?

[Jeffort]

marcus-aurelius explanations were on point.

Preptest 16, St 2, #11 - sewing machines

The stimulus gives us info about the operation methods of two different types of existing apparel factories (traditional factories {AKA slave labor sweatshops} and automated factories) and then offers a conclusion that predicts what the automated factories are likely to do in the future.   

Even though it is a conclusion question (find the answer choice that states something than can be concluded from the information presented in the stimulus), unlike most must be true/what can be inferred/validly concluded/is supported by the info above questions, the stimulus presents an argument, not just a set of facts/information. 

Due to the question type you have to accept all the info presented as being true, even though part of it is a conclusion that is not logically valid based on the presented evidence.  Argument analysis, looking for flaws/assumptions is not appropriate for this question type even though the stimulus does present an argument with flawed reasoning. 

Since, as stated, both traditional factories and automated apparel factories have or will have procedures to regularly observe and monitor the performance of each needle in order to know when one is worn out and needs to be replaced,  you can reasonably conclude that the hours of use life span of sewing needles is not a reliable constant number.  Meaning that you cannot reliably predict how many hours of use a given needle of the same type will endure before it is worn out. 

It's similar to light bulbs, you buy a box of several of the same type and some of them burn out and need to be replaced after less hours of use than others from the same box.

Answer choice (D) states this. 

I'm going to bet that you went with trap answer choice (E).  If not then you likely went with (A)

Answer choice (E) is a very crafty trap answer with how the question is constructed.  If the question stem was changed to make it a Strengthen the argument question type, answer choice (E) would be the credited response since the stimulus is an argument and (E) clearly provides support for the conclusion. 

To ad insult to injury in terms of how (E) is an attractive trap answer based on the construction of the problem, the question stem uses the phrase 'most strongly supported'.  If you are not reading carefully and critically it is really easy to mistake the question stem as a strengthen the argument question instead of an inference/conclusion question type.

[Pepperdine2010]

Thank you, Marcus Aurelius and Jeffort for the responses! I greatly appreciate the explanations. They are extremely helpful.

Jeffort, I selected answer B. Thank you for the explanations of the other incorrect answers though! Much appreciated. 

[Jeffort]

Thank you, Marcus Aurelius and Jeffort for the responses! I greatly appreciate the explanations. They are extremely helpful.

Jeffort, I selected answer B. Thank you for the explanations of the other incorrect answers though! Much appreciated. 

Hmm, why did you go with (B) ? 

Did you get mixed up about the question type and/or just make a semi-random guess to keep moving after getting sucked into the problem for too long?  It's a pretty dense/difficult question.

Given that it is a 'what can you conclude from the information provided above' question with no evidence presented to support a conclusion about what will actually happen in the factories in the future, I'm curious about what went wrong that lead you to decide (B).  Just trying to help you figure out where you went wrong when you attempted it so you can hopefully not make the same mistake again.

[Pepperdine2010]

Hmm, why did you go with (B) ? 

Did you get mixed up about the question type and/or just make a semi-random guess to keep moving after getting sucked into the problem for too long?  It's a pretty dense/difficult question.

Given that it is a 'what can you conclude from the information provided above' question with no evidence presented to support a conclusion about what will actually happen in the factories in the future, I'm curious about what went wrong that lead you to decide (B).  Just trying to help you figure out where you went wrong when you attempted it so you can hopefully not make the same mistake again.

Thanks Jeffort. I chose answer B thinking; since the new device would become standard equipment (and essentially replace workers who monitored needle wear) that the workers would have one less job to perform (since their previous job of monitoring the needles was relinquished by the new device). I thought answer B was a rough capture of my idea.

Please keep in mind that I took this test months ago, so my understanding is better now than what it was previously. I will admit that if it wasn’t for your explanation, I would have (currently) selected answer E. Thank you for the explanation! Number 16 is a pretty tricky problem considering how answer D and E correspond to different question stems which is the reason why one answer is correct and the other is not.

I have another question for you, if you don’t mind. I finished preptest 61 today and I have a question regarding section 4, #25.

Stimulus: There can be no individual freedom w/o the rule of law because there is no individual freedom w/o social integrity and pursuing the good life is not possible w/o social integrity.

Question Stem: The conclusion above follows logically is which of the following answer choices is assumed?

Answer: There can be no social integrity without the rule of law.

I don’t understand this one at all. …wait a minute, I think I just got it lol. Please be patient with me. I’ve been awake since 4am (Tuesday).

Here is my understanding- I used the “unless equation”:

     c: IF-->RL
   p1: IF-->SI
   p2: GL-->SI
So basically, to arrive at the conclusion (IF-->RL) I need to select an answer which will add an unstated premise (the assumption) to one of the stated premises (IF-->SI). In order for me to arrive at IF-->RL I need to show SI-->RL because once I add that assumption, I get IF-->SI-->RL which, when linked together equals IF-->RL!

Man, if my logic is correct than I’m an idiot for getting that problem wrong! I guess that is what I get for studying when I’m tired/not in mood. Now, if my logic is incorrect then I’m completely lost and please help me!

Thank you again for your time. I’m going to sleep now!

~Michelle

**If anyone wants me to delete my paraphrase of problem #25 I'll be more than happy to edit my reply. I don't want to violate any rule(s)**

[Jeffort]

Hey Michelle,

Your logic about the question from preptest 61 and why the correct answer is correct is spot on perfect.   

But what's with the extreme sleep deprivation thing ??  Assuming you are taking the test this saturday, you better be getting some good rest tonight and tomorrow night in order to be in your best shape to tackle the test.

[Pepperdine2010]

Hi ,

I wanted to get some last minute fine-tuning finished. I'm making sure that I get enough rest tonight though! Please wish me luck for tomorrow (I'm feeling a bit anxious  ).