Either Perry’s faction or Tucker’s faction, but not both, will win con

Initially I selected c , but looking at the explanation by Vannbj, D seems to be correct answer.

@Vannbj,
Please advise what are the other different type of CR questions where we need to consider this approach.

Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure I understand your question. But I’d take this approach with just about every critical reasoning question. You usually can break them down into logical equations like math. For instance, “If Bob jumps then his hat will fall off” can be written as “j => h” where “=>” means “then”, “j” means “Bob Jumps” and “h” means “Bob’s hat will fall off.” If we weren’t on a computer then I’d just draw “=>” as an arrow pointing to the right. We can then write the contrapositive “-h => -j” which means in “If Bob’s hat didn’t fall off then he did not jump.” The contrapositive of a logical statement is ALWAYS true and is the first thing I tend to infer from a question like this. But notice that we didn’t say “-j => -h” this says “If Bob didn’t jump then his hat didn’t fall off.” This is a common logical flaw but it’s not substantiated from the original statement. Something else could have caused the hat to fall off. You can generally make up your own equations for any if-then statements. I hope this helps and that I answered your question but like I said, I’m not entirely sure that I understood it. If it does help then I accept kudos

(1) Either Perry’s faction or Tucker’s faction will win the election , both can't win / loose.

(2) Perry’s faction wins = suffer economically

(3) Tucker’s faction wins = suffer militarily


Given the statements in the passage, which one of the following statements must be true?

(A) It is possible, but not certain, that the nation will neither suffer economically nor suffer militarily.

Violates the condition (1) , either of the 2 contestants must win and the country will either have to suffer Either Militarily or Economically.

(B) If the nation suffers economically, it is certain that Perry’s faction has won control of the government.

One can't be certain - There are multitude of other factors.

(C) It is certain that the nation will suffer either economically or militarily, and also certain that it will not suffer both.

The Country will either suffer economically or militarily , the underlined part distorts the picture.

(D) If the nation suffers militarily, it is possible, but not certain, that Tucker’s faction has won control of the government.

True , it is just a possibility , nothing confirm can be stated.

(E) If the nation suffers both economically and militarily, it is certain that neither Perry’s faction nor Tucker’s has won control of the government.

Not true , might be that the conditions were favourable and there were efficient management techniques to suppress the same...

(D) is the best option among the rest hence ( D ) is the answer.

The golden rule here is : We can't be certain about something here , there is Just a possibility / Probability of occurrence / Non Occurrence of an Event.

Just to encapsulate what some of the earlier posters have been suggesting, remember that on a "must be true" question, when in doubt, generally* go with the weaker answer.

It is counterintuitive for some at first, but "maybe" and "possibly" allow for more options and are likely to hold true in more situations (which is exactly what you want for a "must be true" question).

*Of course, if the weak statement is false outright, this won't apply, but you probably aren't struggling with those choices in the first place.

Either Perry’s faction or Tucker’s faction, but not both, will win control of the government. If Perry’s faction wins, the nation will suffer economically. If Tucker’s faction wins, the nation will suffer militarily.

Given the statements in the passage, which one of the following statements must be true?

(A) It is possible, but not certain, that the nation will neither suffer economically nor suffer militarily. - WRONG. Suffering is certain, which one is the question though.

(B) If the nation suffers economically, it is certain that Perry’s faction has won control of the government. - WRONG. Trap - it is not certain. It is possible.

(C) It is certain that the nation will suffer either economically or militarily, and also certain that it will not suffer both. - WRONG. One is definitely possible. The way this one says it seems it is certain that both sufferings are possible, which is certainly not true.

(D) If the nation suffers militarily, it is possible, but not certain, that Tucker’s faction has won control of the government. - CORRECT.

(E) If the nation suffers both economically and militarily, it is certain that neither Perry’s faction nor Tucker’s has won control of the government. - WRONG. Against the passage itself.

Among C and D it is tough to pick.

Answer D.

Either of one wins hence it Boils down to D