PrepTest 134

Incorrect. There's no discussion about the population of people in Biba's neighborhood, so there's no way to know that there are few children under the age of 6. Also, while the time period that any child under 6 can swim is limited, that doesn't mean that they're few in number.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
Live in Biba's neighborhood → Allowed to swim at some point during day
Noon — 5pm: No one under 6 can swim
5pm—Close: Adults only

Answer Anticipation:
This answer falls into a common pattern in Must Be True/Cannot Be True questions—it presents a lot of information, but there's a gap in there. That gap can be filled in with an inference that is the correct answer.

Here, the argument has two gaps—if the pool opens before noon, who can swim from opening to noon? And when can people under 6 swim?

Since the first statement tells us that everyone in Biba's neighborhood is permitted to swim at some time, it must be the case that any child under 6 can swim from opening until noon (if such a child exists). Let's find an answer that establishes that.

Answer Explanation:
If a child under the age of 6 lives in Biba's neighborhood, then the opening conditional guarantees that that kid can swim at some point during the day. Since he can't swim from noon—close, then he must be able to swim at some point between opening and noon—and so the pool must be open before noon, as this answer states.

Key Takeaway:
One common pattern in Must Be True and Cannot Be True questions is the generalization that is then "parted out" in the details. This means that there's a statement that applies to all cases, but only a subset of cases is explored. Here, the generalization established everyone could swim at some point during the day, but the rest of the stimulus only talked about those 6 and older, and 12—5pm. When this happens, the inference is likely going to deal with the areas covered by the generalization but not addressed by individual statements.

Incorrect. There's no indication of the relative number of children and adults in Biba's neighborhood, or of how many from each age group avails themselves of the pool, so there's no way to determine when the pool is crowded. Just because more people can swim (are permitted to swim) doesn't mean that more will swim.

Incorrect. The neighborhood isn't going to round up children and throw them in the pool if none want to swim—there's no indication that a child will always swim in the afternoon.

Incorrect. A child who is 6 or older could swim between noon and 5pm without breaking the rules. Additionally, if there are children under 6, then they can swim between opening and noon without breaking the rules (the inference we made).