Good question! This problem relies on conditional logic. The last sentence is key.
“Only if their financial problems are solved can they and those around them be happy.â€
This tells us that solving financial problems is a necessary condition to happiness. So, in other words, you can’t be happy with financial problems and if you’re happy, you don’t have financial problems.
The stimulus also tells us that people with financial problems make everyone around them unhappy.
A tip is to look for contrapositives in the answer choices. Those are inherent must-be-trues of conditional statements.
B) People who solve their serious financial problems will be happy.
This is a reversal. The last sentence of our stimulus can be diagrammed as follows:
Happy —> no more financial problems Contrapositive: financial problems —> unhappy
B can be diagrammed like this: No financial problems —> happy
So according to the stimulus, in order to be happy you need to solve your financial problems. However, there are other things that could make you unhappy even if you do solve your financial problems (you get in a car accident, you lose your job, somebody eats your leftovers in the fridge, etc.). Solving financial problems is only NECESSARY to happiness; since other things could affect happiness, it’s not sufficient.
B has solving financial problems written as sufficient for obtaining happiness, which is not what the stimulus claims.
Answer choice E on the other hand gets it right. It can be diagrammed like this:
Happy —> no financial problems Financial problems —> unhappy
See how this matches the last sentence of the stimulus? That’s why E is the correct answer.
Hope this helps you better understand the difference between B and E!
ElaFebruary 8, 2020
that makes sense thank you
shunheFebruary 8, 2020
Hi @Ela, glad we could be of assistance! Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.
