Q24 - The increasing complexity of scientific

[kimjy89]

Why is C wrong?

Thanks

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

These Inference questions towards the end of the section are usually tough.

Think about it like this...

We know that when articles are produced from several different institutions that they usually have multiple authors.

Can we turn that around and say that when articles have multiple authors, they are usually from several different institutions?

A quick analogy would be suppose we know that most politicians are corrupt. Would it be fair to then claim that most people who are corrupt are politicians?

This is the error with answer choice (C) and also with answer choice (D).

(A) is simply too strong to be inferred from the stimulus. Nowhere in the information would we have a statement that would justify the strength of this answer choice when it says "never."
(B) is directly inferable from the second sentence.
(C) reverses the direction of an inferable statement, thereby sounding good, but having the logic backwards.
(D) reverses the direction of an inferable statement, thereby sounding good, but having the logic backwards.
(E) is not supported by the information. We know that researchers who conduct experiments are listed as authors, but that does not preclude others from being listed as authors.

[mrudula_2005]

The answer is literally the second sentence of the stimulus verbatim except that "usually" is replaced by "most".

Are the two terms identical in meaning for the purposes of the LSAT?

Also, for "E" you said: "(E) is not supported by the information. We know that researchers who conduct experiments are listed as authors, but that does not preclude others from being listed as authors."

How do we know that? I don't think that was ever stated...

Thanks!

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

"usually" and "most" are identical in meaning on the LSAT.

Here are some more words that are all equivalent in meaning.

most, more than half, a majority, usually, typically, and generally

As far as your second question though, you're right. It is not explicitly stated that the experimenters were listed as authors, and I didn't mean to imply that every author was someone who conducted an experiment. Based on the passage we cannot establish that the experimenters were listed as authors, simply that there were people from the institutions where the experiments were conducted that were listed as authors and that those didn't have to be the only authors listed.

Good questions!

[LSAT-Chang]

Hey Matt, how about "often"? I always run into "often"s, and I was always unsure what that entailed. Is it some or most?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Here's a short list of words for "some" and "most"

SOME
some
many
several
a few a couple
a large amount
a significant amount
there are (as in "there are politicians who are corrupt.")
often
frequently
occasionally
sometimes
regularly
not all* (equivalent to "some are not")


MOST
a majority
more than half
most
nearly all
almost all
typically
usually
generally
few* (equivalent to "most are not")


And remember, it's not an exhaustive list, but it'll take care of 90% of the cases you see.

[LSAT-Chang]

Awesome! One last word that I wasn't able to find in the above list.. "tends"?? I ran into a post just a few minutes ago where someone translated "tends" to "most of the time". Is this correct? I wasn't sure if "tends" would be more similar to "frequently" (some) or "usually" (most)!

[timmydoeslsat]

Tends = Most

[jamiejames]

Here's a short list of words for "some" and "most"

SOME
some
many
several
a few a couple
a large amount
a significant amount
there are (as in "there are politicians who are corrupt.")
often
frequently
occasionally
sometimes
regularly
not all* (equivalent to "some are not")


MOST
a majority
more than half
most
nearly all
almost all
typically
usually
generally
few* (equivalent to "most are not")


And remember, it's not an exhaustive list, but it'll take care of 90% of the cases you see.

how are "often" and "frequently" not synonymous with "most"?

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

how are "often" and "frequently" not synonymous with "most"?

Good question! How often is often? Or frequently for that matter? It's unclear. And unspecified frequencies or quantities revert to "some."

The most important thing (even if you feel that these quantities actually indicate a frequency of greater than 50%) is that you learn how the LSAT uses these terms. The LSAT is incredibly consistent with the use of these terms.

[SecondWind180]

Here's a short list of words for "some" and "most"

SOME
some
many
several
a few a couple
a large amount
a significant amount
there are (as in "there are politicians who are corrupt.")
often
frequently
occasionally
sometimes
regularly
not all* (equivalent to "some are not")


MOST
a majority
more than half
most
nearly all
almost all
typically
usually
generally
few* (equivalent to "most are not")


And remember, it's not an exhaustive list, but it'll take care of 90% of the cases you see.

Gold. This is why I always look at these explanations.