Many fictional works have characters who are supposedly precognitive-that is, able to accurately perceive future even...

Skylar on November 3, 2019

@mluna No, we cannot always assume that an answer choice is incorrect simply because it uses a strong word. However, you are correct in taking extra caution while evaluating what the implications of these words are. Oftentimes, strong words can make for claims that are stronger than what the passage supports (and therefore incorrect). However, this is not always the case and you should evaluate each answer choice if time allows.

ulino23 on February 21, 2020

In a necessary assumption question and other questions that contain conditional logic, if there is only one answer choice with conditional logic in it, would it be advisable to pick that answer. For instance, on this question, I feel that only A contains conditional logic.

shunhe on February 21, 2020

Hi @ulino23,

Thanks for the question! You should definitely still go through the questions, especially since you might miss some instances of conditional logic if you’re just skimming for indicator words like “only if” in answer choice (A). Take a look at (E) for example. It doesn’t have any words like “if” and “only if” but it is still an instance of conditional logic. (E) tells us in effect that

Work of fiction —> ~Portrayed a truly precognitive character

And so I wouldn’t just skip other answer choices without conditional logic. Also, the necessary assumption that will be missing doesn’t necessarily have to contain conditional logic. Consider an argument of the following structure:

A —> B

Conclusion: B

What’s the necessary assumption here? That the premise A is true. But that’s not “conditional logic” in the way that I think you’re understanding it.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.