medium · GMAT Verbal

The flawed pattern of reasoning above is most similar to which of the following?

1. A city's crime rate fell the same year it hired ten additional police officers, so the city concludes that hiring more officers reduces crime.
2. Students who chose to attend optional review sessions scored higher on the final exam, so the professor concludes the sessions caused the gain.
3. Tomatoes grown in a greenhouse were on average larger than tomatoes grown in an adjacent open field, so the farmer concludes that greenhouses cause tomatoes to grow larger.
4. Most customers who returned a product complained about its poor packaging, so the company concludes that packaging is the leading cause of all product returns.
5. After the gym lowered its membership fee, attendance increased sharply the next month, so the manager concludes that the lower fee caused the rise in attendance.

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