Office worker: I have two equally important projects that remain undone. The first one is late already, and if I devo...

Victoria on May 13, 2019

Hello @Liam,

In this passage, the office worker concludes that they should devote their full attention to the second of two equally important projects. Their reasoning for this is that the first project is already late and, if they focus on finishing it, they will not be able to complete the second project before its deadline.

We are looking for the principle that, if valid, justifies the office worker's line of reasoning.

D is incorrect because it is focused on the worry resulting from the failure to complete a project. The principle presented in this answer choice argues that it is better not to worry about this failure than to allow that worry to interfere with the completion of the second project. The office worker does not discuss worrying about failing to complete the project; rather, they are focused on attempting to complete one of the two projects on time.

E is the correct answer as it directly supports the office worker's reasoning. The office worker reasons that it is better to focus on finishing the second project because the first project is already late and the two are equally important. This is directly reiterated by answer choice E, making it the correct answer.

Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.

rebut on May 13, 2020

Hi! I am confused as to how answer choice E states that both tasks are equally important (as the stimulus states). E says that one of the projects is of "low priority," how do we know, then, that both tasks are low priority?

Noelle-Simon on June 11, 2020

it doesn't say low priority, it just says "no higher priority" - if you think about it in terms of errors in reasoning "finding a middle ground" - saying "no higher priority" can insinuate that they are the same priority

Victoria on July 29, 2020

Hi @rebut and @Noelle-Simon,

@Noelle-Simon is correct! Answer choice (E) says that the late project "does not have higher priority."

Therefore, this aligns with the stimulus which tells us that the office worker has two equally important projects as the late project in answer choice (E) is not more important than the project which can be finished on time.

Hope this is helpful! Keep up the good work and please let us know if you have any further questions.