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In this question, what is the meaning of "often"? Does it mean "some of the time"?

If, in this question, it means "some of the time," I am having difficulty understanding why B is correct. Jolene does believe that "B" happens "some of the time," and Alex obviously agrees with that as well.

Thanks.

The trigger for me was "Most owners" in Jolene's response. That implies that the ones that do quick profit runs are in the minority, and I think "often" equates to "most". If most farms are built for many years of production, that seems to be the point of contention.

I think the one part you're over looking is that although he agrees farms exist that are built quickly, and abandoned quickly, he never says they receive a quick profit. He even goes as far as to say they prove unsustainable.

But every other answer choice can be eliminated quite easily, so even without definitely saying those that are quickly built are not yielding a quick profit, you can assume that's the best answer choice

sinfiery wrote:I think the one part you're over looking is that although he agrees farms exist that are built quickly, and abandoned quickly, he never says they receive a quick profit. He even goes as far as to say they prove unsustainable.

But every other answer choice can be eliminated quite easily, so even without definitely saying those that are quickly built are not yielding a quick profit, you can assume that's the best answer choice

If he doesn't mention it, then how can they disagree about it?

RE NoodleyOne answer, that makes sense...if "often" means "most". If that's the case, then I feel all set on this problem. But, I have read elsewhere that "often" only means "some of the time," and I'm curious what the official ruling on this one is..

sinfiery wrote:But every other answer choice can be eliminated quite easily, so even without definitely saying those that are quickly built are not yielding a quick profit, you can assume that's the best answer choice

This is how I decided on the answer.

they disagree about; whether shrimp farms get a quick/ez profit.
this is shown because the first guy says investors make quick profits (quick profit)
where as the second guy says they take a long time to construct and are costly (not quick profit)
The first guy also says the investors abandon them quick but the second guy says they take a long time to construct (easy vs not easy)

hope that helps

skri65 wrote:

sinfiery wrote:I think the one part you're over looking is that although he agrees farms exist that are built quickly, and abandoned quickly, he never says they receive a quick profit. He even goes as far as to say they prove unsustainable.

But every other answer choice can be eliminated quite easily, so even without definitely saying those that are quickly built are not yielding a quick profit, you can assume that's the best answer choice

If he doesn't mention it, then how can they disagree about it?

A mentions shrimp farms make quick easy profits

B mentions most shrimp farms don't make quick easy profits explicitly so they definitely disagree.

If you make the assumption that B assumes some shrimp farms make a quick and easy profit (Although he never says this) then if one does this and at the same time assumes often does not equal most, but some of the time, answer B is wrong.

But you are making an assumption that B thinks some shrimp farms make quick and easy profits when he only says some shrimp farms are quickly abandoned.