DS problem

[JbhB682]

DS problem

Does Animal P have white fur ?
S1) Animal P is a bear
S2) Animal P is of a species that typically lives in the arctic.

Source : Manhattan GMAT prep hour videos . This was conducted on May 17th 2020

[JbhB682]

The OA was C on this one (the tutor mentioned, this was a polar bear and thus had white fur)

I was between E and C but I eventually selected "E" however because of one word -- Typically

Combining the two statements -- i get
A species of bear that TYPICALLY lives in the arctic

Being a native speaker, the word typically indicates to me --- there is a possibility, perhaps less than 1 % chance that this bear (Whatever the species of bear) may NOT live in the arctic AT ALL (because the word typically)

Question : is my above assumption accurate or is that not a fair assumption ?

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

First of all I should point out that the problem you quote is not a real GMAT problem: it looks like a problem made up for explanatory purposes. Often we can understand concepts more easily in a real-world, words-not-Math context. However, words have their own problems, and are generally not as precise as numbers.

That said, I think you're misinterpreting the problem. As you wrote, 'typically' means 'in most cases' or 'most of the time', not necessarily 100%. I agree with you that Animal P may not live in the Arctic herself, but notice how the modifier 'that typically lives in the Arctic' is not modifying Animal P, but the species to which Animal P belongs. Actually, we don't care at all where Animal P lives, but simply about whether she has white fur, and knowing her species will be sufficient to answer that question.