Rebecca: When I went hiking in the mountains the other day, every bird

Question

Rebecca:  When I went hiking in the mountains the other day, every bird that scolded me was a Steller’s Jay, and every Steller’s Jay I saw scolded me.

Which one of the following statements can be inferred from Rebecca’s observations?

(A) The only jays that Rebecca saw while hiking were Steller’s Jays.
(B) There were no Gray Jays in the area where Rebecca hiked.
(C) While she was hiking, no Gray Jays scolded Rebecca.
(D) All the jays that Rebecca saw scolded her.
(E) Rebecca did not see any Gray Jays while she was hiking

Source:   Nova GMAT  
Difficulty Level:   600

saswata4s · Answer

(A) The only jays that Rebecca saw while hiking were Steller’s Jays. -  It is possible that Rebecca saw many jays. But the only Jays scolded were Steller’s Jays. 
(B) There were no Gray Jays in the area where Rebecca hiked. -  Nowhere it is mentioned that there were no gray jays 
(C) While she was hiking, no Gray Jays scolded Rebecca. -  The only Jays scolded were Steller’s Jays. Hence, no gray jay scolded 
(D) All the jays that Rebecca saw scolded her. -  only the Steller’s Jays scolded, no other jays, hence, not all jays. 
(E) Rebecca did not see any Gray Jays while she was hiking -  Nowhere it is mentioned that she didn't see any other jay.

arvind910619 · Answer

Can some one explain how to tackle this kind of questions?

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The argument is this --

Bird scolded Rebecca --> bird is Steller's Jay  --------(1)
 Rebecca saw Steller's jay --> the Steller's jay scolded Rebecca  --------(2)

What are the simplest inferences that can be drawn from these?

From #1 -
bird is not steller's jay --> did not scold Rebecca

from #2 -
Steller's jay did not scold Rebecca --> Rebecca did not see the Steller's jay

We have to look for an answer option that matches either of these two. Option C matches the first inference.

let us take a look at other answer options --

Option A - Incorrect 
Not necessarily. She might have seen other types of jays -- jays that did not scold her.

Option B - Incorrect 
We cannot infer anything about the presence/absence of gray jays from the data given.

Option D - Incorrect 
this is true only for Steller's jays; we cannot make this assumption for other types of jays.

Option E - Incorrect 
We cannot infer this. Probably there were some. Only thing that we can infer is that they did not scold her.

TheMechanic · Answer

These questions are must be true questions types. Everything in stimulus must be taken and understood as it is given in the stimulus. No outside information bits affecting the stimulus should be introduced. If an answer choice mentions something which:
- outside the purview of the question (for instance Gray Jays scolding) 
- generalizes the fact mentioned in the stimulus
- changes the meaning of author's argument/fact
- contradicts a fact mentioned in stimulus.
- Changes the essential words with generic or construed words, etc, 
that answer choice is incorrect.

This question is mostly a fact set hence everything mentioned needs to be understood clearly. Try making a Venn diagram to picture this better. With regular practice one can get better at making a mental map of info provided.

Hope that helps.

chesstitans · Answer

I only chose C by using POE, how to solv this kind of question perfectly in the shortest time?
Clearly, with the classical pattern in this question, test takers can still have many inference from the pattern. Nevertheless, there is only 1 inference, and it is really confusing.

chesstitans · Answer

I think what I can learn in this inference question is to negate the sentence, and to work with "Every" in an argument, and to see the differences in meaning if I change the order of words in a sentence.

Finally, practice.

Finally, practice.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Rebecca: When I went hiking in the mountains the other day, every bird

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Rebecca: When I went hiking in the mountains the other day, every bird

Prep Toolkit

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

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My Rewards