Few Good Questions:
CR

Very few software engineers have left MicroFirm Corporation to seek employment elsewhere. Thus, unless CompTech Corporation increases the salaries of its software engineers to the same level as those of MicroFirm's, these CompTech employees are likely to leave CompTech for another employer.

The flawed reasoning in the argument above is most similar to the reasoning in which of the following arguments?

a. Robert does not gamble, and he has never been penniless. Therefore, if Gina refrains from gambling she will also avoid being penniless.

b. If Dan throws a baseball directly at the window, the window pane will surely break. The window pane is not broken, so Dan has not thrown a baseball directly at it.

c. If a piano sits in a humid room the piano will need tuning within a week. This piano needs tuning; therefore, it must have sat in a humid room for at least a week.

d. Diligent practice results in perfection. Thus, one must practice diligently in order to achieve perfection.

e. More expensive cars are stolen than inexpensive cars. Accordingly, owners of expensive cars should carry auto theft insurance, whereas owners of inexpensive cars should not.

The correct answer is (D). The original argument's line of reasoning is essentially as follows:

Premise: The well-paid engineers at CompTech do not quit their jobs.

Conclusion: If MicroFirm engineers are not well-paid, they will quit their jobs.

You can express this argument symbolically as follows:

Premise: All A's are B's.

Conclusion: If not A, then not B.

The reasoning is fallacious (flawed), because it fails to account for other possible reasons why MicroFirm engineers have not left their jobs. (Some B's might not be A's.) (D) is the only answer choice that demonstrates the same essential pattern of flawed reasoning. To recognize the similarity, rephrase the argument's sentence structure to match the essence of the original argument:

Premise: All people who practice diligently (A) achieve perfection (B).

Conclusion: If one does not practice diligently (not A) one cannot achieve perfection (not B).