Each of the following can be inferred from the information in the passage EXCEPT:

Mehran March 4, 2016

@jgray106 Remember, the logical opposite is the minimum required to disprove a statement.

For this reason, the logical opposite of "must be true" is "not necessarily true."

Similarly, the logical opposite of "hot" is not "cold," as you might think.

The logical opposite of "hot" is "not hot." Room temperature would be sufficient to disprove the statement that something is hot.

For a more in-depth discussion of these concepts, please watch the "True v. False" section of our "Intro to Logical Reasoning" video.

This video is part of our free content, so definitely make sure you check it out.

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

crushcity November 13, 2019

"the logical opposite is the minimum required to disprove a statement."

"Similarly, the logical opposite of "hot" is not "cold," as you might think."

Boom. Mind blown. However Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the explanation

Mazen February 1, 2020

"Can" be inferred is used in the question stem (not "must" be inferred). Does "inferred" supersede can/could in the sense that "must"!is inherent in it (i.e. "infer)? Otherwise the logical opposite of "could" is "cannot."

edixon August 1, 2020

Please explain why the answer isn't can not be true. After all, not necessarily true still could be true.

Lamont December 23, 2021

Aloha Mazen, I was caught off guard with the phrasing of the question stem too. By definition inferred means is a conclusion from facts or premise. So I believe that out of the four answer choices must be true leaving one answer with one of the two true vs. false answers. However, because ask Except I was stuck between the polar opposite which was not necessarily true (the correct answer) vs. cannot be true the logical opposite. Again when I did this drill I was not focused. I'm not sure if this is the same for you. I initially choose not necessarily true I have to learn how to not overthink the stem but really understand what the stem is asking along with the argument.

Lamont December 23, 2021

Noe more thing. I keep in mind that must be true or false means the answer is 100% true or false. However, not necessarily for both true and false in less than 100%. Does that make sense?

Ravi February 4, 2022

@Lamont, that's 100% correct.


They're very similar, but they're also quite different.

If we look at truth on a scale of 0 to 100, we can assign not
necessarily true and could be true different values.

Must be true=100 (has to be true)
Not necessarily true (could be false)=0-99 (includes everything but
must be true)

Could be true=1-100 (includes everything except for cannot be true)
Cannot be true (must be false)=0 (has to be false)

The key difference between not necessarily true and could be true is
that not necessarily true includes cannot be true, whereas could be
true includes must be true.

Not necessarily true (could be false) means there's a chance that
something's false, but it does not have to be false

Could be true means that there's a chance that something's true, but
it doesn't have to be false

The difference is small, but it's there.

Ravi February 4, 2022

They're very similar, but they're also quite different.

If we look at truth on a scale of 0 to 100, we can assign not
necessarily true and could be true different values.

Must be true=100 (has to be true)
Not necessarily true (could be false)=0-99 (includes everything but
must be true)

Could be true=1-100 (includes everything except for cannot be true)
Cannot be true (must be false)=0 (has to be false)

The key difference between not necessarily true and could be true is
that not necessarily true includes cannot be true, whereas could be
true includes must be true.

Not necessarily true (could be false) means there's a chance that
something's false, but it does not have to be false

Could be true means that there's a chance that something's true, but
it doesn't have to be false

The difference is small, but it's there.