Critical Reasoning

Either Perry’s faction or Tucker’s faction, but not both, will win control of the government. If Perry’s faction wins, the nation will suffer economically. If Tucker’s faction wins, the nation will suffer militarily.

Given the statements in the passage, which one of the following statements must be true?

(A) It is possible, but not certain, that the nation will neither suffer economically nor suffer militarily.

(B) If the nation suffers economically, it is certain that Perry’s faction has won control of the government.

(C) It is certain that the nation will suffer either economically or militarily, and also certain that it will not suffer both.

(D) If the nation suffers militarily, it is possible, but not certain, that Tucker’s faction has won control of the government.

(E) If the nation suffers both economically and militarily, it is certain that neither Perry’s faction nor Tucker’s has won control of the government.

OA after discussions

IMO C

(A) It is possible, but not certain, that the nation will neither suffer economically nor suffer militarily – wrong as according to the statement, either Perry’s faction or Tucker’s faction, but not both, will win control of the government

(B) If the nation suffers economically, it is certain that Perry’s faction has won control of the government – wrong as if the nation suffers economically it doesn’t follow that Perry’s faction has won control of the government

(C) It is certain that the nation will suffer either economically or militarily, and also certain that it will not suffer both – CORRECT because the nation can suffer either economically or militarily as only one of the two parties wins the control of the government

(D) If the nation suffers militarily, it is possible, but not certain, that Tucker’s faction has won control of the government. - wrong, as if the nation suffers militarily, it doesn’t follow that there is a possibility that Tucker’s faction has won control of the government

(E) If the nation suffers both economically and militarily, it is certain that neither Perry’s faction nor Tucker’s has won control of the government. – wrong, as the case is out of scope

C for me as well.

follows from Either Perry’s faction or Tucker’s faction, but not both, will win control of the government

=> nation will suffer economically or militarily but not both militarily and economically as both cannot win.

IMO - D

I eliminated C because we are not sure that only one of the consequences wil happen if any one party wins. If Perry wins then the nation can even end up suffering militarily and if Trucker wins , the nation can suffer economically.. Nothing is mentioned against these possibilities in the main statement.

raghavsarathy wrote:IMO - D

I eliminated C because we are not sure that only one of the consequences wil happen if any one party wins. If Perry wins then the nation can even end up suffering militarily and if Trucker wins , the nation can suffer economically.. Nothing is mentioned against these possibilities in the main statement.

yes, your argument makes sense raghavasarathy. we do not know if Perrys win is the only reason the nation will suffer economically. same for Tucker. D does seem better after re-reading the choices

I have been solving LSAT questions lately and this falls in the category of Logic Games which have a different kind of approach

Any takers to explain the logic game concept?

D is the most suitable option in this case