Ruth: To Become a Politician, a Person Should be Required to have a Diversity of Experience.

Question: Ruth: To become a politician, a person should be required to have a diversity of experience. The more diverse one’s experience, the more one will understand the need for compromise.
Stephanie: To be worthy of public trust, it is not enough, as you suggest that one simply has varied experience. Such a person would not necessarily be worthy of public trust.

Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the reasoning in Stephanie’s response to Ruth’s statements?

1. The response simply asserts a point of view opposite to Ruth’s without giving reasons for it.
2. The response fails to provide evidence for its assumption that experience is not beneficial to the practice of politics.
3. The response attributes to Ruth a view that is more vulnerable to criticism than any she actually expresses.
4. The response fails to make a needed distinction between personal experience and relevant professional experience.
5. The response fails to provide evidence for its assumption that flexibility is unimportant in the practice of politics.

Answer: C
Explanation: Here, we have to find the option that most accurately describes a flaw in the reasoning presented by Stephanie in response to the statement given by Ruth.

Let’s go through each of the available options and select the one that fits the best.

Option A: The response simply asserts a point of view opposite to Ruth’s without giving reasons for it.
Option A states that the response by Stephanie just asserts a point of view that is opposite to Ruth’s statement with no reasons for it. Stephanie does not assert a point of view opposite to Ruth’s, she asserts a view opposite to what she accidentally thinks Ruth is saying. Ruth says that the diversity of experience is necessary and Stephanie says that the variety of experience is not sufficient. Since the statements contradict each other, Option A is incorrect.

Option B: The response fails to provide evidence for its assumption that experience is not beneficial to the practice of politics.
Option B states that the response by Stephanie fails to give evidence for the assumption that experience is not important for politics. But Stephanie never says so. She never said that experience is not necessary for politics. She just said that a variety of experiences is not sufficient. Since the statement presented is not correct as per the given passage, Option B is incorrect.

Option C: The response attributes to Ruth a view that is more vulnerable to criticism than any she actually expresses.
According to Option C, the response attributes to Ruth a view that can be criticized more than any she actually expresses. Stephanie attacks a much broader and more vulnerable argument than Ruth makes by saying that a variety of experiences is not sufficient for gaining the public’s trust. Ruth never says anything about gaining the public’s trust, he just suggested the qualities required to be a politician. This is a flaw presented in Stephanie’s reasoning as she didn’t understand Ruth’s argument. So, Option C is correct.

Option D: The response fails to make a needed distinction between personal experience and relevant professional experience.
Option D states that the response by Stephanie fails to make a difference between personal experience and professional experience. This statement is out of scope as the passage does not talk about personal and professional experiences. The statement is not relevant to the argument given in the passage. So, Option D is incorrect.

Option E: The response fails to provide evidence for its assumption that flexibility is unimportant in the practice of politics.
Option E states that the response did not provide evidence for its assumption that flexibility is not important in politics. The statement is irrelevant to the passage because the arguments do not talk about flexibility in the practice of politics. They merely talk about the experience required to gain public trust. So, Option E is incorrect.

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