Which one of the following statements most accurately characterizes a difference between the two passages?
colemcruzon November 10, 2021
One right answer?
In the video, it is stated with logical reasoning questions that there is only ever one right answer and the rest are wrong, meaning that there is never simply a “best” answer compared to other choices that may also be correct, just not AS correct. However, as the video progresses it is stated that there are sometimes subtypes of questions such as Strengthen and Weaken where an answer will either provide “strongest additional support” or “most seriously weakens” implying that there are other choices that may also be correct, contradicting the statements made earlier in the video of there being no “best” answer questions. Can someone shed some light on this for me?
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Hi Cole, Good point. There is indeed only one right answer for LR questions. However, for strengthen and weaken questions in particular the question often states "strongest" or "most" etc. For these questions, there is always one option that is a much better option than the others. Consider the following example of a strengthen argument and question:
Premise) I applied to 15 law schools Premise 2) I have already received an acceptance to one school Conclusion) I will get into at least one more school
Consider two answer options: 1) The qualities that make an application at one law school successful are the same qualities that make an application successful at all law schools. 2) Some of the schools I applied to are tied in ranking.
If we're going for the best strengthen, option 1 is clearly better. However, we might be able to contrive option 2 into somehow strengthening, perhaps if we assumed for example that when schools are tied in rankings generally let the same candidates in, and I was already accepted to a tied-ranking school. This is why the questions are written as most strengthen. We don't want to choose options that rely on a ton of assumptions that aren't given in the question, even though its possible in some scenarios they might help the argument. Hope this helps!
