Q24 - One sure way you can

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

This is a Necessary Assumption question. So, we're looking for an answer that is required to be true, in order for the conclusion to have a chance of being true.

The conclusion of the argument is that one can tell how quickly a new idea is taking hold by by monitoring how how fast the word is passing into common usage. The problem with this is that the idea may no longer be represented in the word by the time it becomes common. The meaning of the word could have shifted and so the idea is not taking hold in society, even though the word is. This is best expressed in answer choice (D). Negating answer choice (D) would say, "As the word passes into common usage, it's meaning does undergo severe distortions in the process." The meaning of the word would no longer be the same, so tracking the word, would not be tracking the idea.

(A) is not necessary. They could be interested in words that are rarely used, but that doesn't mean that the editors would in their professional opinions claim that the words had passed into common usage.
(B) is not necessary. How the editors determine whether the word has passed into common usage is not important.
(C) is backwards. it's not that the editors must include the word in their dictionaries for the word to take hold, but that once it takes hold, it gets included in the dictionary.
(D) is necessary to for using the common usage of a word to determine whether a new idea is taking hold in society.
(E) would tend to weaken the argument, so is not necessary to it. If the words are being used before the meaning is understood, then tracking the word tells us nothing of whether the idea is taking hold. People would be using the word without an understanding of its meaning.

[rsmorale]

This looked more like a fact pattern/set of statements to me. (Likely due to the fact that there was no conclusion/premise indictaors)

I did arrive at the right answer, but wanted to double-check my reasoning. I didn't see the word/meaning gap, I predicted the gap as being in connection w/ the dictionary editors' "vital concern." Guess it pays off to stay flexible during the test. Working from wrong to right helped me narrow it down to D, and then I confirmed by employing the negation test.

Gonna try thinking more outside the box. This was a hard one!

[tzyc]

I think assumption would be a gap between premises and conclusion, but where is the premise? The line about editor?
Or did you find the gap only within the conclusion?
Thank you

[kumsayuya]

Looks like the shift (for lack of a better word - maybe relationship?) from "a new idea", and "word passing into usage" is where a lot of the confusion stems from, at least for me that was the issue. The word represents and IDEA, and stated in the first line of the stimulus, and if we are using the gage of how commonly used a word is - a word that represents an IDEA (this is the important part) - then this word, when being passed into common usage, could not have changed meanings drastically, because if it had, then the idea would no longer be represented.

I'll try to provide a rudimentary example:

Lets say we are using the word "A" to represent the idea of pizza. The word "A" has gained some serious popularity as of late, and because of this, has caught the eye of the dictionary people, who for some reason love seeing if new words are in common usage. However, over the 2 months the word "A" has become so popular, the idea it represented, pizza, has shifted meaning to broccoli! So doesn't this mean that using the word "A" as a measurement to see how the fast the idea of pizza has spread would be therefore incorrect, making the argument fall apart? I think so.

Hope this helps someone, I got this wrong and I think this helped clear things up in my own head.

[Mab6q]

(C) is backwards. it's not that the editors must include the word in their dictionaries for the word to take hold, but that once it takes hold, it gets included in the dictionary.

No doubt D is right, but I wanted to understand C better. I don't think the explanation above makes alot of sense or it could be that I'm not understanding it correctly.

"it's not that the editors must include the word in their dictionaries for the word to take hold, but that once it takes hold"

This would be notated as: hold --> dictionaries

"Once it takes hold, it gets included in the dictionary."

Hold --> dictionaries

So is C really reversed or is it simply not necessary?

[ohthatpatrick]

This is a pretty weird stimulus, since we don't really get an argument, just a method.

What IS the method for how you know whether a new idea is taking hold?
you monitor how fast the word/words related to that idea are passing into common usage

Notice, I didn't mention dictionary editors, because they're not involved in the "one sure way you can tell how quickly a new idea is taking hold".

You CAN consult them for a professional opinion, but that's not a necessary part of the method described.

So I would say that (C), and anything about dictionary editors, is pretty irrelevant to the method described.

When we're evaluating a METHOD of achieving a certain RESULT (or a PLAN to achieve a GOAL), you pretty much need an objection that takes the form of:
"How could I follow your METHOD, but NOT achieve the desired result?"

In this case, "how could I monitor how quickly a word passes into common usage but NOT be able to tell how quickly a new idea is taking hold?"

Well one problem would be if the meaning of the word undergoes severe distortions in the process of passing into common usage.

I could find out that "selfie" has passed into common usage, but NOT be able to tell whether the idea behind its meaning has taken hold (since the original meaning of selfie, I'm pretending, was to paint a naked self-portrait and the common usage meaning is simply to take a photo of yourself).

[Ga HyunK147]

I thought about this for a long time, and this is the reasoning I came up with.

Since this is an assumption family question, I thought I need to find a missing connection. Conclusion is about telling how quickly an "idea" holds, but the premise focusses only on " words." So probably I need to find an answer choice telling me that the connection between "idea" and "words" persist.

Am I making any mistake here? Someone please confirm?

[adisadeliovsky]

I thought about this for a long time, and this is the reasoning I came up with.

Since this is an assumption family question, I thought I need to find a missing connection. Conclusion is about telling how quickly an "idea" holds, but the premise focusses only on " words." So probably I need to find an answer choice telling me that the connection between "idea" and "words" persist.

Am I making any mistake here? Someone please confirm?

I believe this method you in this question would be much better for SUFFICIENT assumption questions. In sufficient assumptions questions a conclusion and premise are always provided, where you need to find an ADDITIONAL premise in order for the conclusion to be properly drawn. That is why in the answer choices of sufficient assumption were are looking for specific answers that connect us between the things said in the premise and in the conclusion.

This question is more unique in the sense that it asks for the assumption the METHOD is using. It is also tricky because you do not need to rely on the last sentence where it discusses professional opinions and dictionary editors, that is more of a distractor.

When you are doing necessary assumption questions you must always apply the NEGATATION METHOD to the answer choices. When doing that we can see why D is correct.

Answer D originally states: As a word passes in common usage, its meaning does not undergo any severe distortions in the process.

we negate this answer choice and state:
As a word passes in common usage, its meaning does undergo any severe distortions in the process.

If the words are passing into common usage and there meanings are undergoing severe distortions in the process, how do we know that the words being used before have the same meaning as they do now, now that they are in commonly used?

So, if the words expressing the particular idea of privatization have dramatically changed in the process of these words being passed into common usage are now having a different meaning, how in the world are we suppose to know that the new idea (privatization) is taking ahold if the words expressing privatization in the past have differing meanings from the present?

applying the negation method test helped us get to this answer, and made the first sentence of the stimulus fall apart, the last sentence in my opinion, is irrelevant. I personally believe that this question is tough because the answer choices are somewhat tempting. I hope that this helped and I am making sense!