Q16 - Professor: If both parents have type O

[nbayar1212]

There wasn't an explanation for this one so I thought I'd help out.

Based on the Student's response, we are trying to figure out what he or she mistakenly thought the professor had said.

The professor says that if both parents have type O blood, then their children will necessarily have type O blood too

The student responds and says this isn't true because his or her father has type B blood but the student has type O blood.

What did the Student think the professor said?

Well, from the Student's response we can see that he or she is trying to provide a counter example to the Professor's claim so I just asked myself "to what statement would the student's response make sense?" as a counter example... and went to the answer choices.

a) If you have children with type O -----> parent has type O. If this was the professor's claim, would the student's response make sense? Yes! The student's example of his or her father clearly counters this claim i.e. if its true that to be a child with type O blood your parents would necessarily have to have type O blood too, then it couldn't be true that the Student has type O blood but the father has type B.....BUT, since the student has type O blood even though his or her father has type B blood, we know that the Professor's (hypothetical) claim in answer choice A would not be true - which is why it is likely that the student mistook the Professor's claim to mean what answer choice A was saying.

b, c, d, and e are all wrong because if you put the student's response right after the answer choice, the student's response wouldn't seem to counter the claim being made i.e. the fact that the Student's father has type B blood and the student has type O wouldn't be a reason for the answer choice to be false (as the Student claims with the sentence "But that's not true.").

[maryadkins]

Great breakdown! Thanks for this explanation.