Positional case theory is one of the numerous morphological

A, C and E are easy to discard. A talks about "most theories", C says talks about the opposite scenario (not relevant here), and E is out of scope, as the passage is not concerned with what theories or not should be used in researches.

IMO the contenders are B and D.
IMO B. D talks about "syntactic notions" but the passage talks about "function", so D is out of scope.

A and C are wrong because of overgeneralisation.
E is out of scope.
We can eliminate D by the simple logic: we have X--> Y but we can not infer Y--> X
Therefore, B is the best.

Is the answer D?

Please let us know the OA.

Yes it seems like D........
OA?

Hi,

What is the difference between A & B apart from "most" used in A?



Regards

Argha

Would like to hear about this too. Experts please advice

IMO B.

A -incorrect (because of word MOST)
C - incoorect(talks opp )
D -incoorect(cause of word 'CERTAIN' argument doesnt mention this)
E - irrlvnt.


-h

Positional case theory is one of the numerous morphological theories that try to explain the grammatical category of case in English language. Since this theory defines the case of a noun not by its inflections but by its syntactic function, or position in the sentence, thus mixing morphology and syntax, it is weak and open to criticism.

The conclusion drawn above depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A)Most morphological theories that mix morphology and syntax are weak and open to criticism.
(B)Morphological theories are weak and open to criticism if they mix morphology with syntax.
(C)All morphological theories that don’t mix morphology and syntax are strong and beyond criticism.
(D)Theories that explain certain syntactic notions and use morphology are weak and open to criticism.
(E)Any theory that is weak and open to criticism should not be used in further scientific research

"Most" is the major difference between option A and option B. if there were no "most" in the sentence given in A then both sentences in options A and B would be the same

Hi, OA is B. I have an issue with B. According to the premise, if we use mixing morphology and syntax, morphological theory is weak and open to criticism.
If A, then B. B states that Morphological theories are weak and open to criticism if they mix morphology with syntax. This means if b, then A. This cant be true for an assumption. Please help

I don't see much difference between A and B .. except the word most..
A also seems correct ..

Experts please..

Conclusion: PCT (a morphological theory) is open to criticism because it mixes morphology and syntax

(A)Most morphological theories that mix morphology and syntax are weak and open to criticism. - Here we are talking about a specific morphological theory and we do not know whether PCT falls in the 'most' category. Also, negating this option will not affect the conclusion.

(B)Morphological theories are weak and open to criticism if they mix morphology with syntax. - Negate: Morphological theories are not weak and open to criticism if they mix morphology with syntax. The negated statement directly destroys the above conclusion. Hence B is a perfect answer choice.

Can anyone please explain why option C is incorrect? If we negate option C "All morphological theories that mix morphology and syntax are strong and beyond criticism", it breaks the entire conclusion down. Why is it still wrong?

Hi,

I was struggling with the same. But, now I get why C can be eliminated. It is because C says that all the morphological theories that do not mix morphology and syntax are strong. This actually conveys that there is no other possibility which can make them weak. However, we cannot assume something like this. Thus, it is flawed.

B is thus the right answer.

Sent from my Lenovo K53a48 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Actually, alternative B is the case that if A, then B - it's only written backwards. If it were the way you're suggesting, the sentence would be "If morphological theories are weak, then they mix morphology with syntax", which is not the case.