In a survey of 5,000 divorced men, two-thirds admitted that their

Question

Which of the following best completes the passage below?

In a survey of 5,000 divorced men, two-thirds admitted that their infidelity played at least a small role in the decision to dissolve the marriage. However, the survey may under report the percentage of men who have committed such an act of dishonesty, because ______________.

(A) some people who will commit one dishonest act might not object to further dishonesty on a survey
(B) some generally honest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be have performed dishonest acts
(C) some people who claimed on the survey to behave at least a little dishonestly at some point may be very dishonest
(D) some people who claimed on the survey to behave dishonest may have been answering honestly
(E) some married men probably behave at least a little dishonestly

fluke · Answer

see how this one plays against the technique of prephrasing.

Which of the following best completes the passage below?
 
In a survey of 5,000 divorced men, two-thirds admitted that their infidelity played at least a small role in the decision to dissolve the marriage. However, the survey may under report the percentage of men who have committed such an act of dishonesty, because ______________.
 
 (A) some people who will commit one dishonest act might not object to further dishonesty on a survey 
 A dishonest husband may lie in the survey that he was never dishonest with his wife, thus bringing down the actual count of dishonest husbands.  . Correct.

(B) some generally honest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be have performed dishonest acts
 This would increase the number of dishonest husbands and the survey would result in an OVER-report rather than UNDER-report.

(C) some people who claimed on the survey to behave at least a little dishonestly at some point may be very dishonest
 The survey didn't mention anything about the degree of dishonesty.

(D) some people who claimed on the survey to behave dishonest may have been answering honestly
 Good. This means that the dishonest husbands told the truth about their dishonesty in the survey. This may be a reason for under-report, but the statement uses the word "MAY"(may have been answering honestly). Not affirmative.

(E) some married men probably behave at least a little dishonestly.
 This is a general opinion.

LogicGuru1 · Answer

Easy peasy A Explanation:- First of all notice how the stimulus have a hard mathematical number. "5000" men that were surveyed. But then you will notice that the answer choice has no hard mathematical number. For us it will be easy to think that 6000 men too the survey takers. This will help us in getting a nice wholesome :lol:

figure when divided by two third. 2/3 of 6000 are cheaters= 4000 cheaters 4000 people accept cheating when surveyed. The survey says this number of 4000 is less than the real number of cheaters. Meaning 4600 people cheated. 4600-4000= 600 {why are these 600 people lying and not accepting that they are cheaters} We have to figure why 600 people are not accepting their cheating and infidelity (A) some people who will commit one dishonest act might not object to further dishonesty on a survey correct:- these 600 people have already committed infidelity, so it is not a big deal for them to lie on a survey. (B) some generally honest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be have performed dishonest acts Wrong:- if honest people say that they are cheaters than the survey should more more cheaters. (C) some people who claimed on the survey to behave at least a little dishonestly at some point may be very dishonest Wrong:- Dishonesty will be recorded as dishonesty in the survey. A little or a great deal of dishonesty doesn't matter. (D) some people who claimed on the survey to behave dishonest may have been answering honestly Wrong:- It says some people cheated and accepted. we have to find people who cheated and then lied on the survey. (E) some married men probably behave at least a little dishonestly Wrong:- we are not talking about married men here. The survey takers were divorced man. This question addresses a different subset of men. hence out of scope

linakherchi · Answer

Why A and not E?

According to the passage, " the survey may under report the percentage of   men   (and not divorced men!)   who have committed such an act of dishonesty ", which means that the survey  may have covered only a subset of these men (E)  (=divorced men only and not all men: married+ divorced) OR that  some men lied in the survey (A).

Therefore, how to choose between these two questions?

Thanks for your help

monarkmunshi · Answer

Hi Lina, I think you misunderstood the question stem. "may under report the percentage of men who have committed such an act of dishonesty" does not mean not divorced men. The stem clearly states that the survey was of only 5000 divorced men. Only Option A agrees with the logic that one dishonest person can always be dishonest again. Simper way: once a cheater always a cheater

Hope this helps.

Lotus1 · Answer

The word in answer choice (a) “will” is confusing. These husbands already committed infidelity then why “use “will”?

guddo · Answer

Which of the following best completes the passage below? 
 
In a survey of 5,000 divorced men, two-thirds admitted that their infidelity played at least a small role in the decision to dissolve the marriage. However, the survey may under report the percentage of men who have committed such an act of dishonesty, because ______________.

The survey found that 2/3 admitted infidelity played some role in the divorce. The author says the true percentage of men who committed infidelity might be higher than what the survey reports, because some men who cheated might not admit it.

(A) some people who will commit one dishonest act might not object to further dishonesty on a survey

This supports the claim. If a man cheated, he might also lie on the survey and deny it, which would make the reported percentage  too low .  That is exactly how underreporting happens.

(B) some generally honest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be have performed dishonest acts

That would push the reported number up, not down, so it would suggest overreporting, not underreporting.

(C) some people who claimed on the survey to behave at least a little dishonestly at some point may be very dishonest

This is about degree of dishonesty, not whether they committed infidelity at all. It does not explain a lower reported percentage.

(D) some people who claimed on the survey to behave dishonest may have been answering honestly

If they were answering honestly, that does not create underreporting. It gives no reason the survey would miss cheaters.

(E) some married men probably behave at least a little dishonestly

This is vague and not tied to the survey result or to why respondents would hide infidelity on the survey.

Answer: (A)

guddo · Answer

In (A), “will” is not saying “they haven’t cheated yet.” It’s a conditional meaning: anyone who is willing to do one dishonest act (cheating)  may also be willing  to do another dishonest act (lying on the survey).

So “will commit one dishonest act” just identifies the type of person being talked about, not the timing. A clearer paraphrase is: people who  have done  one dishonest thing might also lie on a survey.  That’s why the survey could  underreport .

In a survey of 5,000 divorced men, two-thirds admitted that their

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In a survey of 5,000 divorced men, two-thirds admitted that their

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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