The One GRE/GMAT Fallacy You Simply Must Know: B-Schooled episode 193

In this episode we sit down SBC’s test prep expert Anthony to talk about critical reasoning questions on the GRE and GMAT, with a special focus on the one logical fallacy that every test taker should be prepared for.

In this episode, Anthony shares:

• General tips for critical reasoning questions,
• Specific advice about one critical reasoning question type that trips up many test-takers, and
• Suggestions for how to tackle these problems so that you won’t be caught off guard on test day.

In this episode we will be reviewing to actual GMAT questions. For those of you following along we have included the full text of those questions here:

QUESTION ONE: 

Asthma, a chronic breathing disorder, is significantly more common today among adult competitive swimmers than it is among competitive athletes who specialize in other sports. Although chlorine is now known to be a lung irritant and swimming pool water is generally chlorinated, it would be rash to assume that frequent exposure to chlorine is the explanation of the high incidence of asthma among these swimmers, since __________.

1. young people who have asthma are no more likely to become competitive athletes than are young people who do not have asthma
2.  competitive athletes who specialize in sports other than swimming are rarely exposed to chlorine
3. competitive athletes as a group have a significantly lower incidence of asthma than do people who do not participate in competitive athletics
4. until a few years ago, physicians routinely recommended competitive swimming to children with asthma, in the belief that this form of exercise could alleviate asthma symptoms
5. many people have asthma without knowing they have it and thus are not diagnosed with the condition until they begin engaging in very strenuous activities, such as competitive athletics

QUESTION TWO: 

It is widely assumed that people need to engage in intellectual activities such as solving crossword puzzles or mathematics problems in order to maintain mental sharpness as they age. In fact, however, simply talking to other people—that is, participating in social interaction, which engages many mental and perceptual skills—suffices. Evidence to this effect comes from a study showing that the more social contact people report, the better their mental skills.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the force of the evidence cited?

1. As people grow older, they are often advised to keep exercising their physical and mental capacities in order to maintain or improve them.
2. Many medical conditions and treatments that adversely affect a person's mental sharpness also tend to increase that person's social isolation.
3. Many people are proficient both in social interactions and in solving mathematical problems.
4. The study did not itself collect data but analyzed data bearing on the issue from prior studies.
5. The tasks evaluating mental sharpness for which data were compiled by the study were more akin to mathematics problems than to conversation.

Anthony scored in the 99% percentile on the GMAT and has numerous perfect GRE scores. Not only is he one of our favorite guests, he is also available for one on one test coaching.

To learn more about Anthony, visit please visit https://www.stacyblackman.com/testprep/ or check out his SBC bio here.