BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Another Inference

Expert replies
by heshamelaziry » Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:12 pm
Author: A society that allows unlimited copying of original written work will have no literary works because all creative writing will cease. So, it must be assumed that the more protection provided against the copying of original written work, the larger the amount of literary works available.

Economist: Your supposition cannot be correct, because your hypothesis would suggest that not allowing any photocopying of original written work would lead to the greatest number of literary works available


The economist's response to the author's argument suggests which of the following?

The economist is purposefully misusing a key term in the author's statements to show that the author's premises are self-contradictory.

The economist and the author could both be correct because they are interpreting a key term in two distinct ways.

The economist is undermining the credibility of the author by explicitly challenging the author's understanding of the economic principles of supply and demand

The economist has proven the author's statement to be incorrect by using a detailed example of a situation where the author's conclusion is proven false


The economist has been proven incorrect because the economist is unable to prove the author's statement that creative writing will cease if unlimited copying of original written work is allowed.


OA



B

Why Eis incorrect ?
Join the discussion
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

Re: Another Inference

by Ludacrispat26 » Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:41 pm
heshamelaziry wrote:Author: A society that allows unlimited copying of original written work will have no literary works because all creative writing will cease. So, it must be assumed that the more protection provided against the copying of original written work, the larger the amount of literary works available.

Economist: Your supposition cannot be correct, because your hypothesis would suggest that not allowing any photocopying of original written work would lead to the greatest number of literary works available


The economist's response to the author's argument suggests which of the following?

The economist is purposefully misusing a key term in the author's statements to show that the author's premises are self-contradictory.

The economist and the author could both be correct because they are interpreting a key term in two distinct ways.

The economist is undermining the credibility of the author by explicitly challenging the author's understanding of the economic principles of supply and demand

The economist has proven the author's statement to be incorrect by using a detailed example of a situation where the author's conclusion is proven false


The economist has been proven incorrect because the economist is unable to prove the author's statement that creative writing will cease if unlimited copying of original written work is allowed.


OA



B


Why Eis incorrect ?
What's the source on this one? I don't like it.

The answer is B because the author used the word "copy" to mean "forge," whereas the economist took the literal use of the word, thus referencing photocopying.

E isn't a good choice. How can the economist be "proven" incorrect if nobody has refuted his argument yet? And the economist does refute the author's claim, the two just get mixed up on a word, which is why the answer is B.
Join the discussion

Re: Another Inference

by heshamelaziry » Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:47 pm
Ludacrispat26 wrote:
heshamelaziry wrote:Author: A society that allows unlimited copying of original written work will have no literary works because all creative writing will cease. So, it must be assumed that the more protection provided against the copying of original written work, the larger the amount of literary works available.

Economist: Your supposition cannot be correct, because your hypothesis would suggest that not allowing any photocopying of original written work would lead to the greatest number of literary works available

The economist's response to the author's argument suggests which of the following?

The economist is purposefully misusing a key term in the author's statements to show that the author's premises are self-contradictory.

The economist and the author could both be correct because they are interpreting a key term in two distinct ways.

The economist is undermining the credibility of the author by explicitly challenging the author's understanding of the economic principles of supply and demand

The economist has proven the author's statement to be incorrect by using a detailed example of a situation where the author's conclusion is proven false


The economist has been proven incorrect because the economist is unable to prove the author's statement that creative writing will cease if unlimited copying of original written work is allowed.


OA



B


Why Eis incorrect ?
What's the source on this one? I don't like it.

The answer is B because the author used the word "copy" to mean "forge," whereas the economist took the literal use of the word, thus referencing photocopying.

E isn't a good choice. How can the economist be "proven" incorrect if nobody has refuted his argument yet? And the economist does refute the author's claim, the two just get mixed up on a word, which is why the answer is B.
How did you concude that "copy" means "forgery" ?
Join the discussion

by Ludacrispat26 » Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:48 pm
In English, to "copy" someone sometimes means to repeat what he or she did.
Join the discussion

by mehravikas » Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:16 pm
Why 'D' is incorrect?
Join the discussion

by adam15 » Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:29 pm
it is tricky and nice example. tricky in that it uses ambiguity fallacy, and nice in that it has two different people an "author" and " an economist"-and the economist can not answer involving "law case". if the argmuent involved " lawyer" instead of " the economist", the lawyer will investigate more about "unlimited copying". the answer choice will be different.
which actually forgery.
any clarification
Join the discussion

by kiennguyen » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:23 pm
very good question!
Join the discussion

Re: Another Inference

by raghavakumar85 » Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:23 pm
heshamelaziry wrote:Author: A society that allows unlimited copying of original written work will have no literary works because all creative writing will cease. So, it must be assumed that the more protection provided against the copying of original written work, the larger the amount of literary works available.

Economist: Your supposition cannot be correct, because your hypothesis would suggest that not allowing any photocopying of original written work would lead to the greatest number of literary works available

The economist's response to the author's argument suggests which of the following?

.The economist is purposefully misusing a key term in the author's statements to show that the author's premises are self-contradictory.
.The economist and the author could both be correct because they are interpreting a key term in two distinct ways.
.The economist is undermining the credibility of the author by explicitly challenging the author's understanding of the economic principles of supply and demand
.The economist has proven the author's statement to be incorrect by using a detailed example of a situation where the author's conclusion is proven false
.The economist has been proven incorrect because the economist is unable to prove the author's statement that creative writing will cease if unlimited copying of original written work is allowed.
Since this is an inference question, we have to select a choice that must be true for any cases.

A: this can't be true in all the cases of the argument. This is a could be true/false choice.Eliminated.

C: We cannot infer that the economist is undermining the author's statement and about price and demand. Clearly out of scope. Eliminated.

D: We cannot deduce from the conversation that the economist is indeed talking about issue of photocopying or forgering. The economist may have misunderstood the word COPY. So, D is Not a choice for MUST BE TRUE.Eliminated.

E: We cannot conclude that economist is incorrect, may be he is sarcastic in his statement pointing out flaws in author's statement or he must have misunderstood the word COPY. Cannot be true always. Eliminated.

B: This is correct because it uses an identifier COULD BE in way that both the author and the economist are correct in their own ways. It did not say that "The author and Economist are right in their own way". Instead it used the word COULD BE which eliminates any doubts or points questioning the choice. You can call it a WIN-WIN :)
Join the discussion

by Testluv » Sun Nov 08, 2009 2:49 pm
Hi Hesham!

This is a badly designed question for many reasons. The "author" uses the phrase "amount of literary works" which would never happen on the GMAT: because "literary works" are countable, we would have to say "number of literary works." There are other things that make this question bad as well but I don't feel like writing all of them! Just trust me, this is a bad source.

choice E is wrong because even if the economist were not able to disprove anything that the author said, it does not mean that the economist has been proven incorrect.
Kaplan Teacher in Toronto
Join the discussion

by palvarez » Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:17 pm
"unlimited copying" and "not allowing any copying" are not logical opposites (contradiction). They are contraries.

Contrary predicates can be false of a subject.


Sounds like a LSAT question.
Join the discussion

B

by brick2009 » Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:17 am
Author says:
A --> B (unlimited copying --> ceases lit. work)
C --> D ( more protection --> large lit. work)

What Economist says:
Not A --> D

Using that approach i was able to narrow it to A & B...

Upon closer observation, i eliminated A, because of "purposely"...where is that intent in by the economist...;-)

My 2 cents
Join the discussion

by james33 » Sun May 15, 2016 10:16 pm
I believe the correct answer should be D
Join the discussion