Football matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil never end in a tie

Louis play for F => never end in a tie
=> only end in tie when Louis does not play

Irrespective of = Whether or not

­Fancy Club has won matches against Dare Devil __1__ Louis has played those matches. Further, the match between Fancy club and Dare Devil ends in a draw __2__ Louis Jr has not played for Fancy Club in that match.

1: whether or not
2: only if

How could Draw and Tie be the same? Tie happens when 2 teams scored the same goal but draw could happen if match abandons or there is no result?

Hello Gemmie can you help me out on how with tips on how you secured the perfect score of 695 in GMAT Focus, Study Material and any specific tips with respective to sectional tests.

In the question , no draw if L plays it wouldn't necessarily imply a draw if L doesn’t play. We might consider the case to be one possibility hence I selected the option “if ” instead of only if . Please suggest KarishmaB

You are correct that "no draw if L plays it wouldn't necessarily imply a draw if L doesn’t play" That is why it is a necessary condition and warrants an "Only if"

Given:
­The football matches between Fancy club and Dare Devil never end in a tie whenever Louis Jr has played for Fancy club

'Whenever" = " If"

Given: If LJ plays, then NO tie.

This is equivalent to: Only if NO Lj plays, then tie.

That is why we will select "Only if"

Keep in mind, we can convert the sufficient if condition "If A, then B" into a necessary condition "Only if not A, then not B".
We simply flip both A and B to negative of their current state.

Here is another official question using this concept which shows how we use conditionals.
https://youtu.be/camUm1cCQLs

Official Solution:



Since “whether Louis Jr. has played” means the same as “whether or not Louis Jr. has played,” the first statement is logically equivalent to “whether or not Louis Jr. has played, Fancy Club has won matches against Dare Devil.” This is logically equivalent to “Fancy Club has won matches against Dare Devil, whether or not Louis Jr. has played,” which corresponds to the selection whether or not.

To see why each of the other options gives a less accurate paraphrase:

• If: This gives a statement logically equivalent to “if Louis Jr. has played, then Fancy Club has won matches against Dare Devil,” which doesn’t include the provision that Fancy Club has won when Louis Jr. has not played. Hence, this creates a conditional relationship where Fancy Club's win depends on Louis Jr. playing, which is incorrect since Fancy Club wins regardless of his participation.

• Only if: This gives a statement logically equivalent to “Fancy Club has won matches against Dare Devil only if Louis Jr. has played,” which doesn’t allow for Fancy Club's wins when Louis Jr. has not played, which directly contradicts the information.

• Unless: This gives a statement logically equivalent to “Fancy Club has won matches against Dare Devil unless Louis Jr. has played,” (so this implies Fancy Club's wins against Dare Devil occur only when Louis Jr. has not played.) which doesn’t include the provision that Fancy Club has won when Louis Jr. has played.

• Or: This gives a statement logically equivalent to “Fancy Club has won matches against Dare Devil or Louis Jr. has played,” which doesn’t include the provision that Fancy Club has won when Louis Jr. has played.

Thus, the correct selection for the first blank is "whether or not."

The statement specifies that “matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil never end in a tie whenever Louis Jr. plays for Fancy Club.” Since this means that if a match ends in a tie, Louis Jr. must not have played for Fancy Club, and a statement of the form “if a match ends in a tie, then Louis Jr. has not played” is logically equivalent to “matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil end in a tie only if Louis Jr. has not played for Fancy Club in those matches,” it follows that the statement is logically equivalent to saying that “matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil end in a tie only if Louis Jr. has not played for Fancy Club in those matches.”

To see why each of the other options gives a less accurate paraphrase:
matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil end in a tie __2__ Louis Jr. has not played for Fancy Club in those matches.
• If: This gives a statement logically equivalent to “if Louis Jr. has not played for Fancy Club, then matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil end in a tie.” This reverses the necessary condition by making Louis Jr.’s absence a sufficient condition for a tie, which is not implied by the original statement and is therefore not a paraphrase.

• Whether or not: This gives a statement logically equivalent to “matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil end in a tie whether or not Louis Jr. has played for Fancy Club.” This removes the dependence on Louis Jr.’s participation, contradicting the original statement, which specifies that a tie can occur only if Louis Jr. has not played for Fancy Club. Therefore, it is not a paraphrase.

• Unless: The selection unless gives a statement logically equivalent to “matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil end in a tie unless Louis Jr. has not played for Fancy Club in those matches.” This means:

- If Louis Jr. has played for Fancy Club, then matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil do not end in a tie.

- If Louis Jr. has not played for Fancy Club, then matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil do end in a tie.

This incorrectly implies that Louis Jr.’s absence is a sufficient condition for a tie. The original statement specifies that a tie can occur only if Louis Jr. has not played, but it does not guarantee a tie in his absence. Thus, the selection unless is not a paraphrase.

• Or: This gives a statement logically equivalent to “matches between Fancy Club and Dare Devil end in a tie, or Louis Jr. has not played for Fancy Club.” This does not establish the necessary condition for a tie because it suggests that either a tie occurs or Louis Jr. has not played, without linking the two in the required conditional relationship. Furthermore, the statement breaks under scenarios where Fancy Club or Dare Devil wins and Louis Jr. plays, as neither condition of the "or" statement would hold true. Therefore, it is not a paraphrase.

Thus, the correct selection for the first blank is "only if."


Correct answer:

1 "whether or not"

2 "only if"