2961 First Start Prep

[eelizabethweiner]

P: First Start Prep has a world-renowned language arts program and is the best school within a reasonable geographic area.



(A): (Bernard should send his child to a school with a world-renowned language arts program.)


(A): (A parent should select a school for his child if and only if that school is the best option within a reasonable geographic area.)



C: Bernard should select First Start Prep for his child.

I dont understand why "a paretn should select..." is the correct answer. We dont know were Bernard lives, so shouldnt the assumption be he wants to send his child to a world renowned school?

[noah]

Tough question. And I think I see what you mean: technically we don't know if Bernard lives within that reasonable geographic area. However, the school is the best within its region, and according to the second premise, you should choose a school if it's the best within a region. It doesn't say within your region. (I know, it doesn't make perfect common sense.)

In the end, we want the better answer. That said, I don't think it's the best question we've ever written because of the natural question of whether the "reasonable geographic area" in the assumption is referring to the area around the school or Bernard. However, it doesn't say "within a reasonable geographic area around him or herself." Here we can consider "within a reasonable geographic area" as a characteristic, let's call it "characteristic X" and the school and the assumption reference it.

Good catch!

More importantly, do you see what's up with the wrong answer? That's trickier, in my opinion.

P: First Start Prep has a world-renowned language arts program and is the best school within a reasonable geographic area.

(A): (Bernard should send his child to a school with a world-renowned language arts program.)

(A): (A parent should select a school for his child if and only if that school is the best option within a reasonable geographic area.)

C: Bernard should select First Start Prep for his child.