PrepTest 149

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
Most people would take, "I tried something," to mean that I didn't succeed, even though the words themselves don't say that. This is a typical example.

Answer Anticipation:
There are two important things to note in this stimulus that will almost certainly help us find the correct answer.

The first is that last sentence—the Lecturer describes the situation she just walked through as a "typical" example. So we can generalize from that example to other situations, as it's an example of what happens most of the time.

And that brings us to the second important thing—understanding the example so we can generalize from it, as that's likely the correct answer.

The Lecturer here brings up a situation where the literal meaning of the words in a sentence don't lead to a full understanding of what is being communicated. She notes that the words in the example phrase don't convey information that someone would "correctly understand" the person saying it to mean.

So this is an example of a situation where effective communication involves something other than the literal meaning of the words in the communication. Let's find an answer that reflects that.

Answer Explanation:
This answer is a generalization from the example brought up by the Lecturer. There, a "correct[]" understanding of information being communicated required an inference about how a statement was phrased and what could have been said instead. She also noted this was "typical" of conversation. Therefore, understanding must often require more than understanding just the words being used.

Key Takeaway:
Especially when the stimulus notes that an example is being presented, Must Be True questions often have correct answers that are generalizations from the situation described.

Incorrect. The Lecturer notes that the example she uses is "typical" of how conversation works, so, if anything, there's support that how "tried" functions isn't unusual.

Incorrect. The Lecturer doesn't bring up nonverbal cues (e.g., body language) but rather what would have been said if something different was meant.

Incorrect. The Lecturer notes that the non-literal meaning of the words was what she was trying to convey.

Incorrect. That would make a lecture pointless! The Lecturer notes that the types of implications necessary for a correct understanding in the example is "typical" of how communication "works," so she's not fatalistic about the ability to communicate.