Tham khảo tài liệu 'what to expect on the gmat 3', ngoại ngữ, anh ngữ phổ thông phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | ------------------------------------ CRITICAL REASONING --------------------------------------------- Well of course an apple is redder and an orange more orange. It is rather absurd to be making such a comparison because even though apples and oranges are both fruit they are not the same kind of fruit. If you were to compare a Fuji apple to a gala apple or a naval orange to a clementine then you would have a legitimate comparison. But comparing two things that do not fit in the same category makes for an illogical comparison. It is obvious here but in many arguments you may have to look harder to detect an apples-to-oranges comparison. Two questions from the pretest can help demonstrate how common this fallacy is and how to identify it. 7. Unemployment in Winston County has risen only 4 since I took office. Under my predecessor unemployment rose 14 . Clearly my economic policies are far more effective. Which of the following must be true in order for this argument to be valid a. Winston County s population dropped significantly during the current administration. b. The national unemployment rate increased by 12 during the previous administration but only 2 during the current administration. c. Key socioeconomic variables such as the state of the national economy and the demographics of Winston County are comparable for each administration. d. Key policy changes such as increased job training for the unemployed were implemented under the current administration. e. Tax incentives have been implemented to bring new businesses to Winston County. The problem here is that unless key variables that affect unemployment are the same during these two administrations this is a case of comparing apples to oranges. For example if the predecessor was in office during a deep national recession no matter how good his economic policies were he would experience a higher unemployment rate. If Winston County s economy had been supported largely by a factory that shut down during the
