mehravikas wrote:Wow I never knew that
Testluv wrote:
You should stay away from extreme choices in inference and necessary assumption questions.
But in strengthen/weaken and sufficient assumption questions, correct answers can easily be extreme.
Hi Vikas,
Well, there are very good reasons for this. Let's think about the logical design of some CR question types. Then, maybe we will be able to understand on a deeper level why extreme choices should be avoided in the first place.
Why should we avoid extreme choices in inference questions? Well, the answer to this question has to do with the design of an inference question, and the nature of the process of inferring. In an inference question, all of the information in the passage is necessarily true. The correct answer is something that the passage proves must also be true. But the
more extreme an answer choice becomes, the
less likely it is that the passage was strong or relevant enough to prove the choice as being something that is necessarily true. The only time an extreme choice will be correct is when that part of the passage that might support the answer choice is equally as extreme--and that's fairly rare. Accordingly, in inference questions you should be partial to tentative choices over extreme ones.
And, why should we avoid extreme choices in necessary assumption questions? Again, this has to do with the design of a necessary assumption question, and the concept of necessary assumption. A necessary assumption is something that the arguer's reasoning
depends on, relies on. A necessary assumption is something the author needs in order for the argument to work. But it is unlikely that the author's argument will be so bold as to
depend on an extreme assumption. That's why we should generally avoid extreme choices in necessary assumption questions.
So, although it is good advice to avoid extreme choices in both of these question types, we actually avoid extreme choices in inference and necessary assumption questions for
different reasons.
But neither of these reasons apply to sufficient assumption questions or strengthen/weaken questions. In fact, a sufficient assumption is quite likely to be extreme. This again has to do with the concept of sufficient assumption. A sufficient assumption is something which, if we plugged it into the argument, the argument would be guaranteed. And, the
more extreme a choice is, the
more likely it is something that will guarantee an argument. (However, on the GMAT, know that necessary assumption questions are waaaaay more common than sufficient assumption questions).
Also, the more extreme a choice is, the more likely it is something that will strengthen or weaken a particular argument. However, extreme choices show up fairly rarely in strengthen/weaken b/c it is usually obvious that that choice would do the job of strengthening or weakening. So, although extreme chioces rarely show up as answer choices in strengthen/weaken, when an extreme answer choice
does show up in these question types, don't avoid it just because it is extreme--it might be the correct answer!
