Based on the passage, it can be concluded that the author and Broyles-González hold essentially the same attitude toward

Victoria on July 8, 2019

Hi @manvir,

We know that "most people invest in the stock market without doing any research of their own."

Investors - most - don't do own research

Remember that 'most' statements are reversible if we use 'some.'

Don't do own research - some - investors

"Some of these people rely solely on their broker's advice, whereas some others make decisions based merely on hunches."

Investors - some - rely solely on broker's advice
Rely solely on broker's advice - some - investors

Investors - some - make decisions on hunches
Make decisions on hunches - some - investors

"Other people do some research on their own, but just as often rely only on their broker or on hunches." We do not know what proportion of investors this is so we cannot diagram it.

"Nonetheless, a majority of investors in the stock market make a profit."

Investors - most - make profit
Make profit - some - investors

Answer choice C reads "some people who do investment research on their own, while just as often relying on their broker or on hunches, make a profit in the stock market." This is incorrect because we do not know what proportion of people do some of their own research while just as often relying on their broker or on hunches.

We could conclude answer choice A properly because we know that most investors don't do any research of their own and most investors make a profit. If there are five investors, then at least three would not do any research of their own and at least three would make a profit, meaning some ("at least one") investors who make a profit also don't do any research of their own.

In comparison, we know that most investors make a profit in the stock market, but we do not know what proportion of investors do their own research while equally relying on their broker or hunches. While at least three of our hypothetical five investors would make a profit, it is possible that only one investor does their own research while equally relying on their broker or hunches. If this is true, then it is possible that these are four different investors. This would mean that answer choice C does not have to be true, making it incorrect.

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

LeeLarue on April 9, 2020

Thank you!