Question: Helen: It was wrong of my brother Mark to tell our mother that the reason he had missed her birthday party the evening before was that he had been in a traffic accident and that by the time he was released from the hospital emergency room the party was long over. Saying something that is false can never be other than morally wrong, and there had been no such accident—Mark had simply forgotten all about the party.
The justification Helen offers for her judgment of Mark’s behavior is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the justification
(A) ignores an important moral distinction between saying something that is false and failing to say something that one knows to be true
(B) confuses having identified one cause of a given effect with having eliminated the possibility of there being any other causes of that effect
(C) judges behavior that is outside an individual’s control according to moral standards that can properly be applied only to behavior that is within such control
(D) relies on an illegitimate appeal to pity to obscure the fact that the conclusion does not logically follow from the premises advanced
(E) attempts to justify a judgment about a particular case by citing a general principle that stands in far greater need of support than does the particular judgment
“Helen: It was wrong of my brother Mark to tell our mother that GMAT Critical Reasoning”- is a GMAT critical reasoning topic. This GMAT critical question includes sets of five options stating different arguments. The candidates must go through the passage and must select the option that suits well with the passage. GMAT critical reasoning is designed to measure the rational skills and efficiency of the candidates. In order to solve the question, a candidate needs to search for a shred of evidence that would weaken the statement or can have rational flaws in the argument. The GMAT critical reasoning section consists of 36 MCQ questions and the candidates get 65 minutes to answer those questions.
Answer: (E)
Explanation:
The GMAT's critical reasoning section assesses a candidate's ability to think critically and analytically. The applicant must develop a logical response using deduction and reasoning skills. Examining each choice in detail on its own is the best way to get the right answer.
Option- A: Incorrect
This option argues that the distinction between saying something that is false and not saying something that one knows to be true violates moral principles. This criticism is unfounded because Mark not only lied when he claimed he had forgotten about the party, but he also said something else that was untrue. He did both, even if there was a difference between the two!
Option- B: Incorrect
This option claims that it erroneously equates the elimination of the possibility of any additional causes of a given effect with the identification of one cause. This has no bearing on the argument because it is totally void of any cause-and-effect connections.
Option-C : Incorrect
This option explains a particular statement. Moral standards that can only be properly applied to behavior that is under such control are used to judge behavior that is out of a person's control. Even if the moral standard could only be applied to behavior that is within such control, Mark was in control of his actions, so it would still be valid.
Option-D : Incorrect
This option claims that the conclusion does not logically follow from the premises put forth. Instead it relies on an illegitimate appeal to sympathy to hide this fact. This justification does not invoke sympathy.
Option-E : Correct
This option claims that it makes an effort to support a judgment regarding a specific case. It is done by citing a general principle that requires much more justification than the specific judgment itself. Yes, a major tenet of this argument is the idea that telling something false is always wrong morally. This idea is unfounded and open to challenge; what if you say something that turns out to be untrue? Is that simply wrong?
Therefore, the final option is the correct choice.
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