Identify the criterion for the correct answer choice in terms of true:Each of the following statements conflicts with...
annaj2017January 30, 2020
Terms of True?
The explanation given for the right answers explains that question stem given is a Cannot Be Truequestion stem, so why then is the answer Cannot Be True? I understand the idea of logical opposites, but I do not understand why it is necessary in this case. Isn't Cannot Be True already in terms of true? So why then would the logical opposite be the only correct answer if they are both in terms of true?
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Good question. Let’s try thinking about this one intuitively, and see if that helps clarify things.
The stem in question is:
Each of the following statements conflicts with the letter writer’s view EXCEPT:
“Each of the following statements†refers to our answer choices, and “to conflict with†implies that something can’t be possible with something else, it “conflicts," so it can't be true.
So, in other words, this answer choice says:
“Given what we were told, each of the following cannot be true EXCEPT:â€
When you see a meaning that implies “each of the following CANNOT be true EXCEPT†you are essentially being asked (albeit in a convoluted way) “which one of the following COULD be true.â€
The EXCEPT is what gets us there. When a question stem introduces "except,†you’re looking for the exception to what it just identified. In this case, you’re looking not necessarily for what must be true, but rather, what COULD at least be true. What COULD be true is the exception to a list of what can’t be trues.
Does that make more sense?
All of the following cannot be true EXCEPT implies that something from the following CAN be true (though it won't necessarily be true, because that’s a must be true—rather, it just has the potential to be true, it CAN be true). It means all of the answer choices must be false except the exception, the one that CAN be true.
