Hello, everyone. I enjoyed this question, which appeared to me to be a sort of logical syllogism wrapped up in a conditional statement instead. Since different community members have posted on their choice for any of (A), (B), (C), or (E), I thought I would weigh in and hopefully sort out a thing or two for everyone to appreciate.
Bunuel wrote:
Competition Mode Question
If you have no keyboarding skills at all, you will not be able to use a computer. And if you are not able to use a computer, you will not be able to write your essays using a word processing program.
If the statements above are true, which one of the following must be true?
As others have pointed out, there is a chain of logic that must be followed from A to B to C, the first
condition to the final
conclusion, in order to set everything straight. We can map out the sequence thus:
Condition A: If you have no keyboarding skills
at all (my italics)
Conclusion A: you will not be able to use a computer
Conclusion A/Condition B: if you are not able to use a computer
Conclusion B: you will not be able to write your essays using a word processing program
Therefore,
Condition A: If you have no keyboarding skills
at allConclusion B: you will not be able to write your essays using a word processing program
You can think of each pair as representing events A, B, and C in the above-mentioned chain of logic. At this point, I was anticipating the third pair as an answer choice. But of course, GMAT Club questions tend to push analytical reasoning a bit more than other third-party questions. Anyway, let us jump right in and see why four of the five answers can be
disproved.
Bunuel wrote:
A. If you have some keyboarding skills, you will be able to write your essays using a word processing program.
Analysis: This conditional statement removes the negation from condition A and jumps straight to a negation of conclusion B. But look at what has gotten lost in the process: the part about being able to use a computer. All we can establish is that possessing
some keyboarding skills will allow you to use a computer in some capacity (provided you learn how). We cannot automatically assume that keyboarding skills equates to the ability to write essays on a word processing program. What if you did not understand the word processing program that the computer used? Put another way, if I take a link out of the middle of a taut chain, then it is going to be difficult to impossible to join the two end-links without distorting them in some way.
Red light.Bunuel wrote:
B. If you are not able to write your essays using a word processing program, you have no keyboarding skills.
Analysis: Now we are going in reverse, jumping from a conditional conclusion B back to a conclusion based on condition A. As before, though, we are missing the link about being able to use a computer. All we can tell from your not being able to write essays using a word processing program, according to the prompt, is that you must not be able to use a computer in some capacity (i.e. to write essays). That is, maybe the computer program is the problem, not your keyboarding skills.
Red light.Bunuel wrote:
C. If you are able to write your essays using a word processing program, you have at least some keyboarding skills.
Analysis: This conditional statement reverses the negation of conclusion B and also reverses the negation of condition A. I know, for you skeptics out there, you might be thinking,
But we cut out the part about the computer! It's wrong! Hold your horses. Why is this one different? Because if you take the
original prompt and apply negation in a similar fashion to this answer choice, you get the following chain of logic:
If you have some keyboarding skills (as opposed to none at all), you will be able to use a computer. And if you are able to use a computer, you will be able to write your essays using a word processing program.
Ergo, if you are able to write your essays
using a word processing program, you
must possess at least
some keyboarding skills, per the setup of the problem. (There is nothing about dictation by a computer program or anything.)
Green light.Bunuel wrote:
D. If you are able to use a computer, you will probably be able to write your essays using a word processing program.
Analysis: This is a weird one. It negates condition B and introduces a degree of uncertainty in the
probably of conclusion B. In so doing, it becomes something of a meta-answer. In this strict chain of logic, there is no room for
probably or
could be, not to mention that just because you can use a computer, you do not automatically take on the ability to write essays using a word processing program. The chain of logic is supposed to connect keyboarding skills to writing essays, not broad computer skills to writing essays.
Red light.Bunuel wrote:
E. If you are not able to write your essays using a word processing program, you are not able to use a computer.
Analysis: Again, we are missing any information about keyboarding skills. Yes, writing essays on a word processing program requires some computer abilities, but this process does not work the same in reverse. It would be akin to saying, perhaps sarcastically,
If it is not raining, then I am not in London and attempting to create a logically sound conclusion in reverse,
If I am not in London, then it is not raining.
Red light.I think we would agree that the prompt logically connects keyboarding skills to writing essays, and the computer becomes the missing link because the essays need to be written
using a word processing program, as opposed to, say, a typewriter.
The takeaway:
Be careful about which assumptions you make. Between that and reading the given information carefully, it can make all the difference between being stuck in the 600s and pushing beyond that 700 threshold.
I hope that helps. If anyone has further questions, I would be happy to offer my two cents. Good luck with your studies.
- Andrew