Q26 - The older a country is, the more likely it is

[mshinners]

Question Type:
Match the Reasoning

Stimulus Breakdown:
P1) Older → more likely a monarchy
P2) Most not a monarchy
Conclusion) If new, probably not monarchy

Answer Anticipation:
Lots of keywords we can look for here. The correct answer needs a premise that has comparatives ("older"/"more likely"); a "most" premise. And the conclusion needs to be conditional, with a "probably".

For each answer, I'm going to write the statements out in order, but I'm going to label them to match with the P1/P2/C from above.

Correct answer:
(D)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) P2) Most not movies
P1) More popular novel → more likely a movie
C) Not popular movie...

The conclusion flips the order, so we can rule this one out.

(B) P2) Most novels not movies
P1) More popular movie…

P1 is reversed as compared to P2 vs. the stimulus.

(C) P2) Most novels not movies
P1) Not popular…

The P1 statement isn't comparative.

(D) P2) Most novels not movies
P1) More popular novel → more likely a movie
C) If not popular, probably not movie

Bingo.

(E) P2) Most novels not movies.
P1) More complex novel plot → less likely to be movie…

This answer creates an inverse relationship between popularity and adaptation.

Takeaway/Pattern:
When you can identify keywords in the stimulus, you can often use those two quickly rule out answer. Here, you couldn't, as each answer had the corresponding keywords. Instead, the connection between the terms needed to be sussed out, which will always result in a much more difficult question.

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