Critical Reasoning

In an experiment, two-year-old boys and their fathers made pie dough together using rolling pins and other utensils. Each father-son pair used a rolling pin that was distinctively different from those used by the other, "father-son pairs, and each father repeated the phrase "rolling pin" each time his son used it. But when the children were asked to identify all of the rolling pins among a group of kitchen utensils that included several rolling pins, each child picked only the one that he had used.

Which one of the following inferences is most supported by the information above?

(A) The children did not grasp the function of rolling pin.
(B) No two children understood the name "rolling pin" to apply to the same object
(C) The children understood that all rolling pins have the same general shape.
(D) Each child was able to identify correctly only the utensils that he had used.
(E) The children were not able to distinguish the rolling pins they used from other rolling pins.

OA : B

I don't understand the question properly. Please explain!

neeti2711 wrote:In an experiment, two-year-old boys and their fathers made pie dough together using rolling pins and other utensils. Each father-son pair used a rolling pin that was distinctively different from those used by the other, "father-son pairs, and each father repeated the phrase "rolling pin" each time his son used it. But when the children were asked to identify all of the rolling pins among a group of kitchen utensils that included several rolling pins, each child picked only the one that he had used.

Which one of the following inferences is most supported by the information above?

(A) The children did not grasp the function of rolling pin.
(B) No two children understood the name "rolling pin" to apply to the same object
(C) The children understood that all rolling pins have the same general shape.
(D) Each child was able to identify correctly only the utensils that he had used.
(E) The children were not able to distinguish the rolling pins they used from other rolling pins.

OA : B

I don't understand the question properly. Please explain!

Let's make this more concrete. Say we have three children: Child 1, Child 2, and Child 3. Each child uses a different rolling pin: Child 1 uses Pin 1, Child 2 uses Pin 2, and Child 3 uses Pin 3. Later, when they're asked to identify all the rolling pins, each child recognizes only the pin he used. In other words, Child 1 recognizes that Pin 1 is a rolling pin, but does not recognize that Pin 2 and Pin 3 are also rolling pins. Child 2 recognizes that Pin 2 is a rolling pin, but does not recognize that Pin 1 and Pin 3 are also rolling pins. Child 3 recognizes that Pin 3 is a rolling pin, but does not recognize that Pin 1 and Pin 2 are rolling pins.

We can deduce from this that no two children are using the term "rolling pin" to apply to the same object. Child 1 uses the term only to refer to Pin 1, while Child 2 uses the term only to refer to Pin 2, etc. This is what is captured in B.

Thank you for the easy explanation!

How would you rate the difficulty level of this question? Is this a 600-700 level question or a 700-800 level question?

neeti2711 wrote:Thank you for the easy explanation!

How would you rate the difficulty level of this question? Is this a 600-700 level question or a 700-800 level question?

I have no idea

No two test-takers are identical. What one finds challenging, another might think easy, and vice versa. The more important thing to bear in mind is the approach you use, remembering to be rigorous with your logic, to make the arguments as concrete as you can, and to pay very close attention to detail. The only difference in one's approach to a harder question will likely be slowing down a bit or re-reading unusually dense text.