Discussion

The company president’s reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it
(A)takes for granted that only the best management consultants have worked for the top management consulting firms
(B)...
(C)...
(D)...
(E)...
(F)...
*This question is included in Complete Section: LR-B, Sept. '09 LSAT (PT 58 Sec. 4), question #5

The solution is

Posted: 08/24/2011 16:54
Even though I answered this correctly I find that one of the wording choices I have trouble with in answers is "takes for granted" I take this to mean "does not recognize" but in this example and others it's often more of an assumption. Like in this one the example assumes that only the best have worked at the top 1%. Can you help me make sense of why "takes for granted" can mean this?
Posted: 08/25/2011 00:17
"Takes for granted" = "assumes without sufficient evidence/justification"

So, in this case, the Company President assumes--without sufficient justification--that all consultants who work for top 1% firms are top 1% consultants.
(The President's mistake is known as the "fallacy of division". He assumes--without evidence--that each individual in a group shares the traits of the average member of the group.)


Worth noting:
Sometimes you'll hear the phrase "taken for granted" used in a relationship context. This can make seeing the phrase in a more formal context confusing.

An example of the colloquial use: a woman may say "he takes me for granted, so I'm leaving him." What she's saying here is that "he" assumes, without justification, that she will stay with him no matter how badly he treats her.
Posted: 08/25/2011 07:03
Thank you very much for the clarification. I definitely was looking at the terminology in the colloquial sense and continuously got those questions wrong. This makes it much easier to understand.

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