The first sentence tells us that "an easy willingness to tell funny stories or jokes about oneself" is sufficient to prove that that person has self-confidence. Let's diagram this:
EWTFS or EWTJO ==> SC
Therefore, if one does not have self-confidence, then they will not have an easy willingness to tell funny stories nor jokes about themselves.
not SC ==> not EWTFS and not EWTJO
From the second sentence, we know that having a good-natured acquiescence in having others poke fun at one is also revealing of self-confidence.
GNA ==> SC
So, if one does not have self-confidence, they will not have a good-natured acquiescence in having others poke fun at them.
not SC ==> not GNA
(A) is CORRECT because it is the contrapositive of our principles. We know that if one does not have self confidence, they will neither have an easy willingness to tell funny stories nor jokes about themselves, and we also know that this person will not have a good-natured acquiescence in having others poke fun at them, i.e. "a person who lack self-confidence will enjoy neither telling nor hearing funny stories about himself or herself." The passage 100% supports this answer choice.
(B) is incorrect because having self-confidence is the necessary condition in the first sentence, and the existence of the necessary condition does not tell us any more information (remember, Don't Just Reverse!). Please note that we also have no information on what type of people tell funny stories or jokes about OTHERS.
(C) is incorrect because we have not been given any information on the reasons WHY people tell funny stories and jokes. Therefore, we cannot infer this answer choice. The correct answer on a Must Be True question is going to be 100% supported by the passage.
(D) is incorrect because we do not know whether most people prefer to tell a funny story instead of listening to one being told. We merely know that those who enjoy telling funny stories or jokes about themselves are self-confident.
(E) is incorrect because we have never been given any information in the passage about what represents expressions of respect and what doesn't. Remember that the limit of our knowledge on each LSAT question lies within the boundaries of the passage. Since it was not discussed in the passage we cannot infer it.
Hope that was helpful! Let me know if you have any other questions.
spaulAugust 6, 2015
Can you explain what makes this a S&N question?
NazAugust 21, 2015
Well, we are given various S&N statements that we must diagram in order to utilize them in helping us choose the correct answer choice.
Hope that helps!
whlockeJune 1, 2019
What confuses me about this question is that it does not say what "the good natured acquiescence" is actually revealing OF, only that it's revealing...
VictoriaJune 2, 2019
Hi @whlocke,
The passage is stating that an easy willingness to tell funny stories or jokes about oneself is even more revealing than is good-natured acquiescence in having others poke fun at one. When saying that this willingness is more revealing, the passage is referring to self-confidence, i.e. having an easy willingness reveals more about one's level of self-confidence than does having good-nature acquiescence.
Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any more questions.
ReinaDecember 1, 2019
What are some of the indicators that these are S&N statements?
VictoriaMarch 2, 2020
Hi @Reina,
You should always be on the lookout for S&N statements even though not all passages will include them.
This stimulus is a bit tricky because it doesn't use the traditional S&N indicator words. I find it helpful to see if you can rewrite the statements using the S&N indicators you are familiar with. Not only will this confirm whether they are S&N statements, but it will help make diagramming a bit easier for you.
First sentence:
If one has an easy willingness to tell funny stories or jokes about themselves, then they must have supreme self-confidence.
EW - > SSC No SSC - > No EW
The passage also tells us that this willingness is more revealing than a good-natured acquiescence to having others poke fun at you. This means that, while not as indicative as telling jokes about oneself, this is also an indicator of supreme self-confidence.
GNA - > SSC No SSC - > No GNA
So, it follows from our contrapositives that someone with minimal self-confidence will not enjoy either of the above. This is directly restated by answer choice (a), making it the correct answer.
You will also definitely get quicker with this over time and develop your own personal tips and tricks to recognizing S&N statements.
Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.
