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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
62% (02:00) correct
38%
(02:04)
wrong
based on 989
sessions
History
Date
Time
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Not Attempted Yet
Novelist: Any author who thinks a sentence is ungrammatical will not write it down in the first place, and thus will have no need to use a grammar book. On the other hand, any author who is sure a sentence she or he has written is grammatical will not feel a need to consult a grammar book. Thus, grammar books are useless as reference sources for authors.
The reasoning in the novelist’s argument is flawed because the argument
(A) infers, from the claim that authors should not consult grammar books, that they will not in fact do so
(B) infers, from the claim that an author does not mistakenly think that a sentence is ungrammatical, that the author will be sure that it is grammatical
(C) overlooks the possibility that grammar books are useful as reference sources for people who are not authors
(D) presumes, without providing justification, that grammar books cannot have any use except as reference sources
(E) ignores the possibility that there is a middle ground between being sure that a sentence is grammatical and thinking that it is ungrammatical
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The reasoning in the novelist’s argument is flawed because the argument
(A) infers, from the claim that authors should not consult grammar books, that they will not in fact do so
(B) infers, from the claim that an author does not mistakenly think that a sentence is ungrammatical, that the author will be sure that it is grammatical
(C) overlooks the possibility that grammar books are useful as reference sources for people who are not authors
(D) presumes, without providing justification, that grammar books cannot have any use except as reference sources
(E) ignores the possibility that there is a middle ground between being sure that a sentence is grammatical and thinking that it is ungrammatical
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Bunuel
GMATNinja, Skywalker18
Please shed some light on this.
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AkshdeepS
Hi AkshdeepS,
Novelist: Any author who thinks a sentence is ungrammatical will not write it down in the first place, and thus will have no need to use a grammar book. On the other hand, any author who is sure a sentence she or he has written is grammatical will not feel a need to consult a grammar book. Thus, grammar books are useless as reference sources for authors.
Boil it down - grammar books are useless as reference sources for authors.
Flaw - Erroneously splits authors into two groups: Those who think a sentence is ungrammatical and those who think a sentence is grammatical. But it does not consider those who fall in neither of these groups.
The reasoning in the novelist’s argument is flawed because the argument
(A) infers, from the claim that authors should not consult grammar books, that they will not in fact do so - Incorrect
(B) infers, from the claim that an author does not mistakenly think that a sentence is ungrammatical, that the author will fee sure that it is grammatical - Incorrect
(C) overlooks the possibility that grammar books are useful as reference sources for people who are not authors - Out of scope - we are discussing about authors in the argument
(D) presumes, without providing justification, that grammar books cannot have any use except as reference sources -- Incorrect - The author concludes that as far as reference sources are concerned the grammar books are useless for authors and doesn't presume that they have no other uses. Grammar books could probably be used for other things, but those other things don't matter because the argument is concerned only with grammar books and their use as reference sources.
(E) ignores the possibility that there is a middle ground between being sure that a sentence is grammatical and thinking that it is ungrammatical - Correct - This scenario has been ignored
This seems like an example of False dilemma(a type of informal fallacy in which something is falsely claimed to be an "either/or" situation, when in fact there is at least one additional option)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma
(A) infers, from the claim that authors should not consult grammar books, that they will not in fact do so: IRRELEVANT TO CONCLUSION. WHETHER AUTHOR CONSULTS THE GRAMMAR BOOK IS NOT THE POINT. THE DEBATE HERE IS WHETHER GRAMMAR BOOK IS OF ANY USE TO THE AUTHOR.
(B) infers, from the claim that an author does not mistakenly think that a sentence is ungrammatical, that the author will feel sure that it is grammatical: IRRELEVANT. AS PER ARGUMENT, ONCE THE AUTHOR MAKES UP HIS OR HER MIND (MISTAKENLY OR DELEBRATELY) ABOUT ACCURACY OF A SENTENCE, HE/SHE WILL NOT HAVE A NEED TO REFER.
(C) overlooks the possibility that grammar books are useful as reference sources for people who are not authors: NON-AUTHORS, OUT OF SCOPE
(D) presumes, without providing justification, that grammar books cannot have any use except as reference sources: USES OTHER THAN REFERENCE SOURCE, OUT OF SCOPE
(E) ignores the possibility that there is a middle ground between being sure that a sentence is grammatical and thinking that it is ungrammatical: CORRECT. THERE COULD BE SITUATION WHERE THE AUTHOR IS IN A DILEMMA OVER THE ACCURACY OF A SENTENCE.
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(B) infers, from the claim that an author does not mistakenly think that a sentence is ungrammatical, that the author will feel sure that it is grammatical: IRRELEVANT. AS PER ARGUMENT, ONCE THE AUTHOR MAKES UP HIS OR HER MIND (MISTAKENLY OR DELEBRATELY) ABOUT ACCURACY OF A SENTENCE, HE/SHE WILL NOT HAVE A NEED TO REFER.
(C) overlooks the possibility that grammar books are useful as reference sources for people who are not authors: NON-AUTHORS, OUT OF SCOPE
(D) presumes, without providing justification, that grammar books cannot have any use except as reference sources: USES OTHER THAN REFERENCE SOURCE, OUT OF SCOPE
(E) ignores the possibility that there is a middle ground between being sure that a sentence is grammatical and thinking that it is ungrammatical: CORRECT. THERE COULD BE SITUATION WHERE THE AUTHOR IS IN A DILEMMA OVER THE ACCURACY OF A SENTENCE.
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Edited. Thank you.
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AkshdeepS
I'm late to the party, but just wanted to say that I totally agree with @Skywalker18's identification of the flaw:
Skywalker18
The conclusion of this argument ("grammar books are useless as reference sources for authors") is based on only two scenarios. The argument completely ignores any other state of mind that any author could be in when considering any given sentence, and (E) points this out plainly.
I hope this helps!
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E makes sense others are way too convulated right...................stuck more kudos are the only source of motivation for marching ahead....
Contropositive
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GMATNinja KarishmaB
I have couple of doubts with option A & B:
1. I don't understand why A is not a contender:
Argurment says: no need to use a grammar book ----> hence grammar books are useless as reference sources for authors
No need doesn't mean USELESS, right?
Maybe those Authors still use grammar book anyway? If that is the case then Conclusion won't follow. Option (A) seems to point out the same.
2. (B) says: infers, from the claim that an author does not mistakenly think that a sentence is ungrammatical
It has double negative. If we remove double negative, how would the sentence look like?
infers, from the claim that an author Correctly think that a sentence is ungrammatical
OR
infers, from the claim that an author CORRECTLY think that a sentence is grammatical
Contropositive
Remember, we're looking for the logical flaw in the argument. Not a statement about the argument that could, in theory, make sense.
The argument's essence is this: because a writer won't reference a grammar book for a sentence she's certain is right (or for a sentence she's certain is wrong), grammar books are useless as a reference tool for authors.
The flaw here is that there's a pretty big universe between the stuff we're sure is right and the stuff we're sure is wrong. How about everything we're just confused about? THAT'S the logical flaw. A grammar book would still be a useful reference for those situations.
Take another look at (A):
Quote:
This isn't a flaw. The main claim of the argument is that grammar books are useless. It doesn't have to infer anything about whether writers will still use grammar books. In other words, if writers are still using grammar books, but not deriving any benefit, the argument would still be valid. So (A) is out.
Now here's (B):
Quote:
This is a headache to unravel. It's essentially saying that, in the case of a grammatically correct sentence, because authors won't goof and think that this sentence is wrong, they'll be sure that it's right. The problem is that the argument isn't saying that authors won't goof.
When the author Tim says, "I know for sure that this sentence is correct," for the purposes of this argument, it doesn't matter if he's right. What matters is that he's probably not picking up a grammar book to check. So this also isn't the flaw. Get rid of (B).
(E), on the other hand, directly states that there are sentences about which the author might be uncertain, so this one's our answer.
I hope that clears things up!
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