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rn't sure about the ans

by rahul_tgsp » Mon May 24, 2010 5:37 am
Ronald: According to my analysis of the national economy, housing prices should not increase during the next six months unless interest rates drop significantly.
Mark: I disagree. One year ago, when interest rates last fell significantly, housing prices did not increase at all.
It can be inferred from the conversation above that Mark has interpreted Ronald's statement to mean that
(A) housing prices will rise only if interest rates fall
(B) if interest rates fall, housing prices must rise
(C) interest rates and housing prices tend to rise and fall together
(D) interest rates are the only significant economic factor affecting housing prices
(E) interest rates are likely to fall significantly in the next six months

the problem is frm 1000 CR.... can someone explain the ans
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by grockit_andrea » Mon May 24, 2010 6:46 am
rahul_tgsp wrote:Ronald: According to my analysis of the national economy, housing prices should not increase during the next six months unless interest rates drop significantly.
Mark: I disagree. One year ago, when interest rates last fell significantly, housing prices did not increase at all.
It can be inferred from the conversation above that Mark has interpreted Ronald's statement to mean that
(A) housing prices will rise only if interest rates fall
(B) if interest rates fall, housing prices must rise
(C) interest rates and housing prices tend to rise and fall together
(D) interest rates are the only significant economic factor affecting housing prices
(E) interest rates are likely to fall significantly in the next six months

the problem is frm 1000 CR.... can someone explain the ans
I would say the answer here is B. Mark's statement begins with "I disagree," and then the next sentence presents his evidence, which is essentially that it's possible for interest rates to fall without housing prices to increase, since that happened a year ago. In order for that evidence to be supporting his disagreement, he must believe that Ronald meant "if interest rates fall => housing prices rise," when what Ronald actually said was "if interest rates don't fall => housing prices won't rise." Mark's response is based on faulty logic, and B explains exactly what that logic is.
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by paes » Tue May 25, 2010 2:44 am
B can't be the answer.

B : if interest rates fall, housing prices must rise
Mark : when interest rates last fell significantly, housing prices did not increase at all.

contradictory statements.

Other choices are also not convincing.
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by grockit_andrea » Tue May 25, 2010 3:14 am
The question asks what Mark has interpreted Ronald's statement to mean, and Mark's response to Ronald begins with "I disagree." Therefore, it makes sense that Mark would have interpreted Ronald's statement to mean something contradictory to Mark's own evidence.
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by rahul_tgsp » Tue May 25, 2010 7:48 am
thanks that was really helpful...
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by Stacey Koprince » Tue May 25, 2010 9:08 am
Received a PM asking me to respond. I agree with Andrea; I'd pick B.

R: housing prices should not increase BUT (they could? they will?) increase if interest rates drop significantly.

Note the stuff that I put in parentheses. In this case, the verb we should pick is "could" not "will," because R uses the verb "should" in the first half of the sentence. In other words, R doesn't actually say that prices WILL increase if interest rates drop significantly. He only specified that prices could increase IF interest rates drop.

M disagrees on the basis that, in the past, interest rates fell significantly but housing prices did NOT increase. (That doesn't actually contradict what R said though!) But it would contradict an interpretation in which R said that prices WILL increase if rates drop. If M thinks that's what R said, then his disagreement makes sense. (And that is reflected in answer B.)
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by paes » Tue May 25, 2010 8:29 pm
grockit_andrea wrote:The question asks what Mark has interpreted Ronald's statement to mean, and Mark's response to Ronald begins with "I disagree." Therefore, it makes sense that Mark would have interpreted Ronald's statement to mean something contradictory to Mark's own evidence.
thanks Andrea
It makes sense now. I interpreted the meaning wrongly.
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