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31 Jul 2019, 19:40
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
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65% (02:13) correct
35%
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wrong
based on 688
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Efficiency and redundancy are contradictory characteristics of linguistic systems: however, they can be used together to achieve usefulness and reliability in communication. If a spoken language is completely efficient, then every possible permutation of its basic language sounds can be an understandable word. However, if the human auditory system is an imperfect receptor of sounds, then it is not true that every possible permutation of a spoken language’s basic language sounds can be an understandable word.
If all of the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true?
(A) Efficiency causes a spoken language to be useful and redundancy causes it to be reliable.
(B) Neither efficiency nor redundancy can be completely achieved in spoken language.
(C) If a spoken language were completely redundant, then it could not be useful.
(D) If the human auditory system were a perfect receptor of sounds, then every permutation of language sounds would be an understandable word.
(E) If the human auditory system is an imperfect receptor of sounds, then a spoken language cannot be completely efficient.
If all of the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true?
(A) Efficiency causes a spoken language to be useful and redundancy causes it to be reliable.
(B) Neither efficiency nor redundancy can be completely achieved in spoken language.
(C) If a spoken language were completely redundant, then it could not be useful.
(D) If the human auditory system were a perfect receptor of sounds, then every permutation of language sounds would be an understandable word.
(E) If the human auditory system is an imperfect receptor of sounds, then a spoken language cannot be completely efficient.
12 Apr 2021, 03:45
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
This is a rather challenging question. To solve it, we’ll use both the transitive property and the contrapositive. The sentence “If a spoken language is completely efficient, then every possible permutation of its basic language sounds can be an understandable word” can be symbolized as
CE—>EPU
where CE stands for “completely efficient,” and EPU stands for “every permutation is understandable.”Forming the contrapositive of this expression gives
~EPU—>~CE
Next, the sentence “if the human auditory system is an imperfect receptor of sounds, then it is not true that every possible permutation of a spoken language’s basic language sounds can be an understandable word” can be symbolized as
IR—>~EPU
Now combining this expression with the contrapositive formed above gives
IR—>~EPU—>~CE
Then simplifying using the transitive property gives
IR—>~CE
Writing this express out gives “If the human auditory system is an imperfect receptor of sounds, then a spoken language cannot be completely efficient.” This is an exact quote of choice (E) and therefore (E) is the answer.
General Discussion
05 Aug 2019, 11:06
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Quote:
Here comes the conditional reasoning, implying that if permutation cannot form an understandable word, then the spoken language is not completely efficient
05 Aug 2019, 19:50
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The stem says nothing about redundancy, or at least nothing that would let us draw an inference about it. So A, B and C aren't correct. And the stem tells us nothing about what would be true if the "human auditory system is a perfect receptor", so D can't be correct. The stem only tells us what is true if the auditory system is imperfect, so that's the only situation we can draw an inference about. So you could reach E by elimination.
E is correct, but the wording is so complicated (much more LSAT-like than GMAT-like) that it makes sense to simplify it a lot to see the logical connections. Paraphrasing the last sentence of the stem, "if ears are imperfect, then some sound combinations are not understandable words". The second last sentence says, similarly simplifying, "if a language is efficient, every sound combination is an understandable word". So it cannot simultaneously be true that ears are imperfect and a languages is efficient, since those two premises lead to contradictory conclusions, and that's why E is a correct inference.
E is correct, but the wording is so complicated (much more LSAT-like than GMAT-like) that it makes sense to simplify it a lot to see the logical connections. Paraphrasing the last sentence of the stem, "if ears are imperfect, then some sound combinations are not understandable words". The second last sentence says, similarly simplifying, "if a language is efficient, every sound combination is an understandable word". So it cannot simultaneously be true that ears are imperfect and a languages is efficient, since those two premises lead to contradictory conclusions, and that's why E is a correct inference.
