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If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony. 04 Jun 2015, 04:03
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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

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25% (medium)

Question Stats:

65% (00:59) correct 35% (01:10) wrong based on 339 sessions

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If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony.

The statement above can be logically deduced from which of the following statements?


A) No apartments on the fifth floor have balconies.

B) An apartment does not have a balcony unless the apartment is above the fifth floor.

C) All apartments above the fifth floor have balconies.

D) All balconies are built for apartments above the fifth floor.

E) Balconies are not built for apartments below the fifth floor.
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C
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HMC
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If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony. 04 Nov 2016, 11:32
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I got the answer correct.
I am still wondering why B and E could be wrong?
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If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony. 05 Nov 2016, 09:15
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HMC
I got the answer correct.
I am still wondering why B and E could be wrong?
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Option E is easy to eliminate. It describes only those apartments that are below the fifth floor. Nothing is said about the apartments above the fifth floor. Hence from option E, the conclusion cannot be deduced.

However option B has a different implication. From option B, the conclusion can definitely be deduced. Probably the author of this question has a slight misunderstanding about the word "unless".

The author properly mistook that option B means:
An apartment does not have a balcony if the apartment is not above the fifth floor.
However, the issue is that unless the apartment is above the fifth floor is not same as if the apartment is not above the fifth floor.
"Unless" means "except if".
An apartment does not have a balcony except if (unless) the apartment is above the fifth floor.
The above sentence also implies:
An apartment has a balcony if the apartment is above the fifth floor.

Option B can be an answer, but not option E.
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If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony. 05 Nov 2016, 16:49
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Can't this be inferred from (B) - apartments below 5th floor does not have balconies ?

Question stem doesn't say anything about apartments below 5th floor. Hence B is not the right answer.
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If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony. 06 Nov 2016, 03:26
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manhasnoname
Can't this be inferred from (B) - apartments below 5th floor does not have balconies ?

Question stem doesn't say anything about apartments below 5th floor. Hence B is not the right answer.
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Yes, your statement can be inferred, but in addition whether there are balconies above the 5th floor can ALSO be inferred because of the use of the word "unless". Words such as except / unless by their inherent meaning says the opposite about the items they exclude.
Take the examples:
Everyone will go except you.
The above implies two things:
You will not go.
Everyone else will go.

I shall not come unless you ask me to.
The above implies two things:
I shall not come if you do not ask me.
I shall come if you ask me to.
The second part is ignored by the author of the question.

(X unless Y) is equivalent to (X IF (not Y)) AND ((not X) IF Y)
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If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony. 06 Nov 2016, 08:21
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manhasnoname
Can't this be inferred from (B) - apartments below 5th floor does not have balconies ?

Question stem doesn't say anything about apartments below 5th floor. Hence B is not the right answer.

Yes, your statement can be inferred, but in addition whether there are balconies above the 5th floor can ALSO be inferred because of the use of the word "unless". Words such as except / unless by their inherent meaning says the opposite about the items they exclude.
Take the examples:
Everyone will go except you.
The above implies two things:
You will not go.
Everyone else will go.

I shall not come unless you ask me to.
The above implies two things:
I shall not come if you do not ask me.
I shall come if you ask me to.
The second part is ignored by the author of the question.

(X unless Y) is equivalent to (X IF (not Y)) AND ((not X) IF Y)
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Makes perfect sense. Many kudos for the elaboration.

So, (B) would mean ("Apartments below 5th floor have no balcony") AND ("Apartments above 5th floor have a balcony").

For it to be right, the above should lead to (true) AND (true). Then the whole compound will be true. Since we do not have information regarding the first statement, we can still eliminate (B).

Am I correct?
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If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony. 06 Nov 2016, 11:37
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manhasnoname
sayantanc2k
manhasnoname
Can't this be inferred from (B) - apartments below 5th floor does not have balconies ?

Question stem doesn't say anything about apartments below 5th floor. Hence B is not the right answer.

Yes, your statement can be inferred, but in addition whether there are balconies above the 5th floor can ALSO be inferred because of the use of the word "unless". Words such as except / unless by their inherent meaning says the opposite about the items they exclude.
Take the examples:
Everyone will go except you.
The above implies two things:
You will not go.
Everyone else will go.

I shall not come unless you ask me to.
The above implies two things:
I shall not come if you do not ask me.
I shall come if you ask me to.
The second part is ignored by the author of the question.

(X unless Y) is equivalent to (X IF (not Y)) AND ((not X) IF Y)

Makes perfect sense. Many kudos for the elaboration.

So, (B) would mean ("Apartments below 5th floor have no balcony") AND ("Apartments above 5th floor have a balcony").

For it to be right, the above should lead to (true) AND (true). Then the whole compound will be true. Since we do not have information regarding the first statement, we can still eliminate (B).

Am I correct?
Show more

The question is not whether the answer choices can be deduced from the stem. The question is from which answer choice can the stem be deduced - the argument flow is in the opposite direction to what you have described above.

B is given. i.e., X is TRUE and Y is TRUE. From Y you may deduce the stem (If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony.)

Therefore B cannot be eliminated.
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If your apartment is above the fifth floor, it has a balcony. 14 Jan 2021, 23:09
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