Q13 - The tiny country of Midlandia

[yama_sekander]

i got this question right But i would like to know why A would be wrong because with A negated, it would read that midlandians derive pleasure from watching television in a language other than native midlandian. wouldnt that destroy the psychologists hypothesis that midlandians like to be entertained in their own language?


the reason why i picked D was that the evidence, which suggested that

midlandians read --> enjoy being entertained in their own language

Assumption: they read in their own language..


i am just trying to figure out what A is trying to do and why is it wrong.

[bbirdwell]

Facts:
1. Minlandian tv is in another language that Minlandians speak.
2. Minlandians spend more time reading than watching tv.

Conclusion:
ppl prefer to be entertained in native language

The big gap here centers around the language. The conclusion is stating a causal relationship -- that they kind of language causes ppl to watch or not watch, read or not read. The evidence doesn't tell us WHY they read more than they watch tv. Furthermore, we know which language the tv shows are in. It'd be nice to know more about the reading material, to see if it matches the same pattern as the tv.

(A) Negated, it simply says "some Minlandians derive pleasure..." This doesn't destroy the conclusion at all. The conclusion says "ppl generally prefer..." Some ppl can derive pleasure from tv and it still be 100% true that the population generally prefers not to watch.

(B) not even close

(C) not even close

(D) yes! For the reason you stated.

(E) not required

[goriano]

(A) Negated, it simply says "some Minlandians derive pleasure..." This doesn't destroy the conclusion at all. The conclusion says "ppl generally prefer..." Some ppl can derive pleasure from tv and it still be 100% true that the population generally prefers not to watch.

Wouldn't the correct negation of (A) be "All Minlandians derive pleasure from watching television in a language other than their native Minlandian"? Not trying to be nitpicky, but trying to solidify what I've learned on these super helpful post forums!

And if that were the case, the argument wouldn't be destroyed anyway because All Minlandians deriving pleasure from watching TV in other languages is consistent with them still preferring to watch it in their own language.

[alexroark5]

this is a necessary assumption question.

The stimulus says that Minlandians speak two languages: Boltese, and Minlandian (which is their native language).

Then the stimulus says that Minlandians watch TV programs in Boltese but actually spend more time per week reading for pleasure (although we don't know what language they are reading)

Then scientists concludes that Minlandians spend more time reading than watching tv because they prefer to be entertained in their NATIVE language.

Since the tv programs are in Boltese, which is NOT their native language, we need to assume that at least some of what Minlandians read for pleasure is in their native, Mindlandian language.

That is why answer choice D is correct because it fills this gap.

Negating Answer choice A does not hurt the argument at all. NEgating it would state that all Minlandians derive pleasure from watching television programs in a language that is not in their native language. But that doesn't mean that they would derive MORE pleasure, or that they would PREFER to be entertained by these tv programs over reading for pleasure.

[jeanne'sjean]

I'm confused of the negation of (A)

Whether it is "Some Minlandians derive pleasure..." or "All Minlandians derive pleasure..."?

I prefer to the former since “all” seems to be the logic opposite of "no/none". Am I right?

Actually when a sentence contains several indications like these some, no, etc. I'll be confused how to negate them...

Thanks in advance!

[a8l367]

Since the tv programs are in Boltese, which is NOT their native language, we need to assume that at least some of what Minlandians read for pleasure is in their native, Mindlandian language.

Did not get it.

Facts:
- Mindlandians watch less than in any country and no native lang TV available
- M... read more than in any country
Theory:
- people prefer to be entertained in their native language
Question:
- what is necessary so that theory was correct in this case
Answer:
- at least someone reads on M language

But what if theory is true and at the time noone reads in M language because there is no books in M language??? They read more just because it is kind of tradition or whatever.