Question #1691

This one is really confusing!

Started by ShannonOh22 · started 2019-08-03 22:53 · last activity 2019-08-04 19:14 · 3 replies

Ok, so the language used in the answer choice is dubious at best ("can" doesn't mean "MUST be true"), so would you recommend the process of elimination on a question like this if it comes up? It seems like this should have a different question stem..."could be true" would be more defensible. By going through each option, the process of elimination does get you to the right answer eventually, but it's time-consuming! Should we expect extremely tricky language like this on upcoming exams?

Replies

  1. Irina · 2019-08-03 23:59

    @Shannon, I agree - this is a poorly phrased question. It would make more sense as a "could be true" question as all the other answer choices are false. In my experience, it is rare to see these kinds of questions, but I would say for this specific one, instead of going through the process of elimination, we can pick (B) because it is worded as "can visit." Does she definitely have an option to visit four cities in country Y? She does, so it must be true that she CAN visit. If this choice was worded as "Hannan visits.." then it would become a "could be true" option. Does this make sense? Let me know if you have any other questions.

  2. ShannonOh22 · 2019-08-04 18:56

    Hi Irina, thank you for your response! Yes, it does make sense - basically, when given an option between "must be true" and "cannot be true", selecting the only answer that is NOT completely false is the best route. :-)

  3. Ravi · 2019-08-04 19:14

    @ShannonOh22, let us know if you have any other questions—we're here to help!

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