Critical Reasoning: Inference Questions
Radio talk show host Winfra Opry promotes books on her show. Every show begins with Winfra reading the first chapter of a recently published book on air. Every book that was thus promoted became a national bestseller. In addition, Winfra's show pays royalties to the books' authors.
Which of the following conclusions is most strongly supported by the information above?
Incorrect.
[[snippet]]This answer choice is a new premise that presents information outside the scope of the argument, which makes no comparison between male and female writers. Remember that when you solve an Inference question, you should be looking for the conclusion that is based on the exisiting premises.
Incorrect.
[[snippet]]This answer choice presents a conclusion that could stem from the argument only if certain assumptions are made (such as the length of Winfra's show and how much she insists to read the entire first chapter). However, remember that when you solve an Inference Question, you are looking for the conclusion that must stem from the argument.
Incorrect.
[[snippet]]The argument does not tell us anything about the effectiveness of books that get promoted by a public relations office. Therefore, any it is impossible to draw a conclusion comparing this method with Winfra's show based on the existing premises.
Before you try to solve the question again, please answer the following question: did you read all 5 answer choices?
In Critical Reasoning questions, after you spotted what you think is the correct answer choice, you should always scan all other answer choices.
Why didn't you read all 5 answer choices?
Very good! In Critical Reasoning questions, after you spotted what you think is the correct answer choice, you should always scan all other answer choices. While you didn't get the question right in your first attempt (it happens to the best of us), your strategy was good, which is no less important.
Good luck in your next attempt!
This is probably why you got this question wrong.
As mentioned, in Critical Reasoning questions, you should always read all 5 answer choices.
Even if you think you found the correct answer, you should still look at all the remaining answer choices to make sure they're not better.
Well done!
[[snippet]]The premises in the argument definitely provide a logical basis for the conclusion that a promotional spot on Winfra's show is likely to boost a book to bestseller status.
Incorrect.
[[snippet]]This is a tricky one, no doubt. Why isn't it correct? Let's see...
The premise If A, then B does not necessarily mean that If not A, then not B.
Let's take, for example, the following statement:
If you buy a house, then you have a roof over your head
This does not mean that if you don't buy a house, you have nowhere to live. The world is full of people who have a roof over their heads although they have never bought a house: there are children who usually live with their parents, people who rent houses, etc.
Let's sum things up. The argument does not tell us anything about the success of books that don't get promoted by Winfra's show. It only tells us what happens to books that do get promoted by Winfra's show. Thus, the conclusion needs to be about the latter.
Bear in mind that if you do not go over all five answer choices, you risk missing the correct answer.
