PT 71 Section 1 #16 Forum

[younjeos]

Hello,

I eliminated answer C because it talks about “at least one nation” which is a “some” statement. However, I have learned that you cannot combine a “MOST of the nations are probably incorrect” with a “SOME” statement. Is this a valid method for eliminating the answer choice even though the argument is not based upon conditional logic?
Thank you!

[Blueprint Mithun]

Hello,

I eliminated answer C because it talks about “at least one nation” which is a “some” statement. However, I have learned that you cannot combine a “MOST of the nations are probably incorrect” with a “SOME” statement. Is this a valid method for eliminating the answer choice even though the argument is not based upon conditional logic?
Thank you!

There are a few things wrong with answer choice C here. Regarding what you brought up, yes, the case of "some" nations' oil reserves dropping and rising in 1997 isn't enough to tell us about "most" nations. It simply shows that the situation described has happened at least once.

But another, more glaring issue that makes C incorrect is the fact that it's talking about nations in general, when the scope of this argument is limited to "most nations stating their oil reserves were unchanged." We care exclusively about those nations who claimed their reserves were unchanged - this is a subset of nations in general, and so we ideally want an answer that relates to specifically to that subset. B and D are the only ones that do this.

[tasteofcherry]

Assumption questions can be tricky.

You're correct to focus on the conclusion. (B) would be the correct answer choice

(C) mentions a statistic for ONE oil reserve and the conclusion in the passage refers to "most nations". Assumption/Strengthen/Justify the Conclusion questions can be hard to separate, but all are based on similar logic. In this case you want to go with the answer choice that makes the conclusion 'as true as possible'.