Editor: We use the computer to check the length of our articles, but

IMO, D is correct.

If we negate D, the conclusion is not hold.
Conclusion: computer provides word count inaccurate (because the resulting count differed from the count the copy editor gave)
Assumption: the copy editor is unlikely to be less accurate than the computer's count

D is correct..

Reasoning: careful counting by most reliable copy editor produces an accurate measure to compare against any other counting source.

The editor's reasoning relies on which of the following assumptions?
A) the criteria that the computer uses in determining what constitutes a single word differ from the criteria that the copy editor uses

- "editor could say that we already know that fact and even after the final calculation, there is a diffference - such as one thermometer can give a reading in celsius while other in farenheit , each one will be considered correct in reation to each other as long as C to F conversion or vice versa equates to same value."


B) the inaccuracy of the computer's word count does not result from a malfunction of the computer itself

"editor will say , i dont care what is producing this inaccurate count from the computer , but i do know that it is producing inaccurate count and the reason could be 'malfunction of the computer or not "

Negating the statement -
the inaccuracy of the computer's word count results from the malfunction of the computer itself" - doesn't effect the argument - "editor could say - i knew that , i have believed it that was the reason"

so this statement is not necessarily true as it can go either way


C) it would be possible to modify the computer so that it counted words more accurately

"irrelevant - the point in question is whether computer counts accurately or not"

D) a careful count by the copy editor is unlikely to be less accurate than the computer's count

negate this -
"a careful count by the copy editor is unlikely to be as accurate as or more than the computer's count"

This makes the argument fall apart because copy editor is no longer reliable source for comparing accuracy - Hence correct

E) the accuracy of the computer's word count is not dependent on the length of the article that it is being measured

"editor would say - we dont care about what the computer's word count depends on,but we do care that it gives us correct counts.It may take into consideration whatever parameters it has to take to do so"

Can some one explain why A is incorrect.

I do get D as answer but cannot find any reason to discard A.

Conclusion is the word count provided by comp is incorrect as the editor is getting a different count.

(A)the criteria that the computer uses in determining what constitutes a single word differ from the criteria that the copy editor uses

Upon negation, the statement becomes:
The criteria that comp uses in determining what constitutes a single word DOES NOT differ from the criteria that the copy editor uses.

this means that whatever comp is counting, is equal to what copy editor counts. therefore, no discrepancy.
This attacks the conclusion

however i also feel its out of scope as the argument is not talking anywhere about the method but as its assumption i can assume to attack the conclusion.

Pl explain where i am going wrong.

Hi Shail, A is just opposite of one of the assumptions

The author assumes that both computer and copy-writer are using the same criteria. That's why he says the computer is less accurate because the word count is different from the copy-writer's. Had this been the opposite, it would have been the perfect answer.

Conclusion - There is good reason to believe that count given by computer is wrong.
Premise - Count given by computer is different from that given by reliable copy editor.

Here argument is saying that out of two values A and B, A is wrong because A differs from B.
This can be concluded only when B is right. If B is also wrong, what is the ground on basis of which, we can say that A is wrong?
Hence option D perfectly fits and bridges the gap between Premise and conclusion:-

Premise - Count given by computer is different from that given by reliable copy editor.
Assumption - And count given by copy editor is correct.
Conclusion - Therefor there is good reason to believe that count given by computer is wrong.

Other options:-
A - This talks about criteria but we are concerned with the final count of both computer and copy editor. Even if criteria used by both is same, this still doesn't make any difference because premise mentions that final result is different for both and we cannot question the premise.

B - This talks about reason for inaccuracy of computer. But are we concerned about that? Even if reason of inaccuracy of computer was not malfunction but something else, what difference does it make to the final count? Still the output is wrong and no difference in that.

C - Again irrelevant. We are not concerned with what is possible to do. Even if we negate this option, it will have no effect on conclusion.

E - Again we are not concerned about the factors on which accuracy of computer depends. Negating this option as well will not have any effect on conclusion.

chetan2u

Can you please help explain option A (I understand why the correct answer is correct here)

Thanks in advance.

Hi,
I will try to explain .
Editor: We use the computer to check the length of our articles, but surprisingly there is good reason to believe that the word count it provides is inaccurate. Several times when an article's words were carefully counted by our most reliable copy editor, the resulting count differed from the count the computer gave

The editor's reasoning relies on which of the following assumptions?
A) the criteria that the computer uses in determining what constitutes a single word differ from the criteria that the copy editor uses. ISWAT answer choice

Conclusion : Computer gives inaccurate count.

Here , for this conclusion to be true author assumes atleast below things :
1. Editor and Computer should consider the same criteria for counting word , if not the conclusion will be false. Lets say if counting criteria is different for both computer and editor , computer could not have been at fault. Since criteria is different obviously count will not match.
2. Editor is more accurate in counting than Computer.

these 2 assumptions are required . So , if you see option A it is opposite of our assumptions 1 .

Hope it helps

The conclusion is that the copy editor is more reliable in counting words than the computer.

If you negate every answer, answer D destroys the conclusion the most.
A careful count by the copy editor is likely to be less accurate than the computer's count - This destroys the conclusion that the copy editor is reliable.

Finding hard to understand
is the conclusion "computer word count is inaccurate"

confusion between b,d,e

option B: what if computer malfunction was the reason for incorrect word count.
option E: what if the accuracy depends on the length of the article.

isn't the author assuming the above choices?

I do understand that the author is assuming the copy editor is accurate.

But I don't understand how does option D convinces the same meaning

A careful count by the editor is * unlikely to be less accurate* than computer's count.

is this statement telling the editor is more accurate than computer's count?

mikemcgarry chetan2u MartyTargetTestPrep
In the above example though i chose D , by POE , i still have doubt.

" carefully counted by our most reliable copy editor" ...what i felt is that if the argument is saying that it is the "most reliable person" who is doing the job , then isnt this implicitly stating that the editor is better than the computer??
The reason for me to have this doubt lies in a similar OG problem where the author says that the book was "convincingly" bla bla bla... in that problem we did not challenge the author by saying that what a book constitues difers according o various parameters becasue the author says that the bresult was "convinving" ... Why isnt the same logic applicale here??

Hi..
The logic here is correct..
We are looking for assumption here..

Now, 'Reliable copy editor' is part of 'copy editor' at large, so when we say that copy editors are good, it clearly implies that reliable editor are good. It could rather mean even better.

But now let us twist the wordings..

Now, 'Reliable copy editor' does not mean all 'copy editor' , so when we say that reliable copy editors are good, it can mean the copy editors in question can be good or even bad.
Here this will not fit in as an assumption.

I do not know the specific question you are talking about, but I am sure the logic in that must be the one we are talking of in second case.

I guess even if they use different criteria there is a possibility they will end up the same word count.
So A is wrong.

Chetan2u sir your thoughts please for option A.

You've correctly identified the editor's conclusion: "the word count [the computer] provides is inaccurate."

You've also correctly identified the editor's reasoning behind this conclusion: "Several times when an article's words were carefully counted by our most reliable copy editor, the resulting count differed from the count the computer gave."

Where your analysis goes wrong is in applying this information to the question: "The editor's reasoning relies on which of the following assumptions?"

We are not tasked with finding a reason why the editor believes the computer is less accurate than the copy editor. Instead, we are looking for an assumption that links the evidence (that the two counts differed) to the conclusion (that the computer's word count is inaccurate).

Let's go through the answer choices in question:

The editor could reach his/her conclusion whether the inaccuracy of the computer's count was due to a malfunction of the computer, or due to some other reason. The relevant question is not what caused the computer's inaccurate count, but why the difference in the two counts logically leads to the conclusion that the computer's count was inaccurate. (B) is out.


If the copy editor's count is "unlikely to be less accurate" than the computer's count, then it is likely to be as accurate or more accurate than the computer's count. This statement is necessary in order for the editor to reach his/her conclusion, because it means that the difference between the two counts is likely due to the computer's count being inaccurate. Therefore, this is an assumption on which the argument depends. (D) is the correct answer.


Again, we need to find an answer choice that shows that the difference between the two counts is due to the inaccuracy of the computer's count. Like with answer (B), this choice provides a possible explanation for why the computer is less accurate in some cases -- but this is not the question we need to answer. Eliminate (E).

I hope this helps!

The argument is that the computer word count is inaccurate.
This is based on the fact that the copy editor counted the words and found differences between the computer word count and his or her word count.

I'll only go through A and D.

A - NO. The argument would assume the opposite. If the criteria were different then how can the argument even be made?

Slot it in to see this:
- The criteria used to count words on the computer are different from what the copy writer used. Therefore the computer word count is inaccurate.
- The criteria used to count words on the computer are not different from what the copy writer used. Therefore the computer word count is inaccurate.

If the criteria are NOT different, then the copy writer will be counting to the same constraints, so we can conclude that the copy writer reliably counted the words.

D nails this accuracy issue.
IF a careful count by the copy editor is unlikely to be less accurate than the computer's count THEN we could reliably conclude that any difference in word count could be due to the inaccuracies of the computer.

Conclusion: “…surprisingly there is good reason to believe that the word count it provides is inaccurate.”

The editor's reasoning relies on which of the following assumptions?

(A) the criteria that the computer uses in determining what constitutes a single word differ from the criteria that the copy editor uses
If the criteria that the computer uses IS differ(ent) from the criteria that the copy editor uses, then how can you deem what’s accurate vs inaccurate. This wouldn’t compare apples to apples. MartyTargetTestPrep Is this too focused on the topic?

(D) a careful count by the copy editor is unlikely to be less accurate than the computer's count
If the conclusion makes the claim that there’s good reason to believe the word count is inaccurate because the counting method used by the editor had a different number. The argument assumes that the copy editor is accurate (and the computer is not accurate). Put differently, it’s less likely to be have mistakes (i.e., less accurate).

What you said makes sense and begins to highlight why this choice is not an assumption. At the same time, I think you could more clearly articulate how this choice takes things in the wrong direction.

Understanding the argument -
Editor: We use the computer to check the length of our articles (Fact), but surprisingly there is good reason to believe that the word counts it provides is inaccurate (Conclusion).
Several times when an article's words were carefully counted by our most reliable copy editor, the resulting count differed from the count the computer gave - supporting premise for the conclusion.

Option Elimination - The scope of the argument is to find the minimum condition or the missing premise or the assumption for the conclusion to hold: The word count that the computer provides is inaccurate.

(A) the criteria that the computer uses in determining what constitutes a single word differ from the criteria that the copy editor uses - If the criteria are different, then there is a possibility that the word counts that the computer shared is not inaccurate. At best, it is a weakener.

(B) the inaccuracy of the computer's word count does not result from a malfunction of the computer itself - The inaccuracy results from the reason A or B doesn't matter to the scope of the argument, which is to find a missing premise for the conclusion to hold: The word count that the computer provides is inaccurate. We need something that substantiates that, yes, the word count is inaccurate. Out of scope.

(C) it would be possible to modify the computer so that it counted words more accurately - What would be possible is none of our business. Our scope is limited to finding a missing premise for the conclusion to hold: The word count that the computer provides is inaccurate. Out of scope. Another way to look at it is to ask what an assumption is. Is it a missing premise? A fact? Yes. What is this option? An opinion. It can't be our assumption. (Use it carefully and not blindly)

(D) a careful count by the copy editor is unlikely to be less accurate than the computer's count - ok. Negation is that "a careful count by the copy editor is likely less accurate than the computer's count," which shatters the conclusion.

(E) the accuracy of the computer's word count is not dependent on the length of the article that it is measuring - out of scope.