Inference question

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Inference question

by arghya05 » Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:25 pm
24.There is little point in looking to artists for insights into political issues. Most of them hold political views that are less insightful than those of any reasonably well-educated person who is not an artist. Indeed, when taken as a whole, the statements made by artists, including those considered to be great, indicate that artistic talent and political insight are rarely found together.
Which one of the following can be inferred from the passage?
(A) There are no artists who have insights into political issues.
(B) A thorough education in art makes a person reasonably well educated.
(C) Every reasonably well-educated person who s not an artist has more insight into political issues than any artist.
(D) Politicians rarely have any artistic talent.
(E) Some artists are no less politically insightful than some reasonably well-educated persons who are not artists.

can somebody explain how to tackle an inference based question

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by hitmewithgmat » Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:06 pm
IMO is E.
I think the safe bet for inference question is to go in-between. What I mean is that do not go with the extreme choices.

For example,
A)There are no artists who have insights into political issues. This one is too extreme. No artists? no good. Besides, "Most artists are less insightful". Most cannot be replace by None of the artists.

B) is absolutely ludicrous. Out.
C)"every reasonably well-educated......than any artist." too extreme. and it's not true.
D)It is hard to infer this.
E)Some artists are no less politically insightful than some reasonably well-educated persons who are not artists. Yes!!! you know "safety bet strategy"

Hope this helps.
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by delhiboy1979 » Tue Oct 20, 2009 2:19 am
I think it is B. I agree that 'every person' is too strong but then so is the statement that says 'any reasonably' in the stimulus.

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by Testluv » Tue Oct 20, 2009 6:50 am
Actually, this cannot be a real GMAT question. There is no answer listed among the choices that must be true. On the GMAT, "most" means more than half, which could include all. Accordingly, some artists may or may not be more politically insightful than any reasonably educated person. This question probably comes from the 1000 CR question set, which has already been shown to have many a flawed question.
Last edited by Testluv on Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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by [email protected] » Wed Oct 21, 2009 2:57 am
HI Testluv,

Can you enlighten on the logical relationships between Some/Most/All/None/Few etc etc with respect to these questions...
Can you also help in solving with the best possible answer on this....

Vanka....

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by Testluv » Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:32 pm
Sure!

"Some" means at least one. Notice that this, therefore, could include "all". "Most" means more than half, which again, could include "all".

"Few" usually means the same thing as "some" but its meaning can change. For example, saying "few chocolate bars are good" would be equivalent to saying "many are not." But saying "some chocolate bars are good" is not equivalent to saying "many are not" because, again, "some" could include "all".

"All" means "all." "None" means "none".

Furthermore, terms like "some", "many", "most", and "few" assume existence while "all" and "none" do not.

Finally, I really wouldn't worry about any of this for the GMAT. These are formal logic conventions that get tested on the LSAT. In the OG, the test-maker explicilty states that it does not test formal logic conventions.

As for this question, I guess the best answer would be E, but in order for E to be correct, we would have to assume that "most" does not include the possibility of "all", which is incorrect because, again, "most" could include "all".

In other words, in order for E to be correct, the second sentence of the passage should have read "most but not all" instead of "most".

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by gmatmachoman » Sat Oct 24, 2009 5:16 am
Testluv wrote:Sure!

"Some" means at least one. Notice that this, therefore, could include "all". "Most" means more than half, which again, could include "all".

"Few" usually means the same thing as "some" but its meaning can change. For example, saying "few chocolate bars are good" would be equivalent to saying "many are not." But saying "some chocolate bars are good" is not equivalent to saying "many are not" because, again, "some" could include "all".

"All" means "all." "None" means "none".


Furthermore, terms like "some", "many", "most", and "few" assume existence while "all" and "none" do not.

Finally, I really wouldn't worry about any of this for the GMAT. These are formal logic conventions that get tested on the LSAT. In the OG, the test-maker explicilty states that it does not test formal logic conventions.

As for this question, I guess the best answer would be E, but in order for E to be correct, we would have to assume that "most" does not include the possibility of "all", which is incorrect because, again, "most" could include "all".

In other words, in order for E to be correct, the second sentence of the passage should have read "most but not all" instead of "most".

@TestLuv...

Is C wuld be a option??Wats wrong with C..Plz explain

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by Testluv » Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:19 pm
Hi gmatmachoman,

We are asked to draw an inference. An inference is something that must be true given the information in the passage. So the right answer is something that must be true. That would make the four wrong answers things that could (or must) be false.

Choice C, while tempting, could still be false. We learn that "most" artists hold views that are less politically insightful than any reasonably well educated person. While "most" could include "all", obviously "most" does not necessarily mean "all".

Accordingly, there may be some artists whose views are more politically insightful than those of (other) reasonably well educated people.

Therefore, choice C could be false.
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by james33 » Sun May 15, 2016 9:51 pm
Guys can anyone give a decent reason why E is not right.