Q9 - Even though she thought the informant

[mshinners]

Question Type:
Sufficient Assumption

Stimulus Breakdown:
1) Info not false → Won't reveal identity
2) Ordered by judge or editor → Reveal identity
3) Info is about power plant safety
Conclusion - Even if info is good, reveal.

Answer Anticipation:
Since the conclusion deals with revealing identity, the second premise is what we should focus on. The correct answer should trigger that conditional, stating that either a judge or the journalist's editor will order her to reveal the identity. While the answer might directly state that, it's more likely that it'll tie into the third premise about safety.

Correct answer:
(C)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Negation. The first premise states what will happen if the information isn't false, but there's no information about what will happen if it is false.

(B) Negation. The correct answer could state that the editor ordered the journalist to reveal her source, but this answer is about not being ordered.

(C) Bingo. The information does concern safety, so this conditional triggers, which tells us a judge will order the journalist to reveal her source, thus triggering the second premise and getting to the conclusion.

(D) Out of scope. The argument has a conditional related to the information being true or false, but the ability to verify it won't necessarily trigger that statement.

(E) Out of scope. The conclusion speaks to whether or not the information will be revealed, not whether or not the informant knew about it.

Takeaway/Pattern:
When there's a bunch of crazy conditional language, take it one step at a time to break it down!

#officialexplanation

[tchien18]

Given premise 1:

Info not false → Won't reveal identity

Contrapositive:
Reveal identity → Info false

Is there supposed to be a distinction made between promising to not do something and actually not doing something? The way it is written out now, it seems to me like you could chain up premise 1 and 2 which seems to contradict the conclusion of revealing identity even if information is accurate.

[ghorizon09]

There are three ways to have the identity revealed:

if False info --------> Revealed

If Judge Order -------> Revealed

if Editor Order --------> Revealed


Conclusion: Info concerns safety violation therefore identity will be revealed


Answer C.

If safety issue -----------> Judge's Order

if Safety----------> Judge------------>Reveal

This can be demonstrated abstractly as follows: if A------>B------->C. Therefore if A----->C