If one wants to succeed, then one should act as though one were

Question

If one wants to succeed, then one should act as though one were genuinely confident about one’s abilities, even if one actually distrusts one’s skills. Success is much more easily obtained by those who genuinely believe themselves capable of succeeding than by those filled with self-doubts.

Which one of the following statements, if true, most strengthens the argument?

(A) Those who convince others that they are capable of succeeding usually have few self-doubts.
(B) Genuine confidence is often a by-product of pretended self-confidence.
(C) Success is usually more a matter of luck or determination than of skill.
(D) Many people who behave in a self-confident manner are genuinely confident about their abilities.
(E) Self-doubt can hamper as well as aid the development of the skills necessary for success.

VeritasPrepBrian · Accepted Answer

This question is a fantastic example of precision-in-wording gaps, a really common way that the testmaker leaves a small gap between premise and conclusion that you have to either fill (Strengthen) or exploit (Weaken).

Notice here that the first sentence says that people should "act like they're genuinely confident" while the second says that people who "do genuinely believe" are better able to develop skills. So we have a gap between "acting like" and "actually being" genuinely confident. If you're reading quickly those two sentences seem to be talking about the same thing (they both mention genuine confidence/belief) but there's that little bit of difference between Sentence 1 being about acting/pretending and Sentence 2 being actual.

If you notice that, you're looking directly for B: how does pretending you're genuinely confident connect to actually being genuinely confident? Genuine confidence comes from (is a by-product of) pretend confidence. B provides that link to connect the gap.

One other thing I think is important here (and in any "wordplay gap" CR question) is that adjectives/adverbs/modifiers tend to always matter in these cases. For me, even though it wasn't the gap itself here (both sentences mention it) the adverb "genuinely" stood out as an extra word they didn't have to add (the general gist of the prompt is the same if you just say "people believe" vs. "people genuinely believe" and "confident" vs. "genuinely confident"). When the testmakers add adverbs/adjectives in the conclusion or the major premise, that usually tips off that that word is important. Here the gap is really "are you really confident or just faking" and the extra emphasis on "genuinely" can give you a clue to that. And note that, probably not coincidentally, the correct answer is one of only two answers that mention the word "genuine(ly)".

TarPhi · Answer

Two key phrases -
"act like they're genuinely confident" and "do genuinely believe".

This points to B

unraveled · Answer

If one wants to succeed, then  one should act as though one were genuinely confident about one’s abilities , even if one actually distrusts one’s skills.  Success  is much more  easily obtained  by those who  genuinely believe themselves  capable of succeeding  than  by  those  filled  with self-doubts.

Which one of the following statements, if true, most strengthens the argument?

First sentence is conclusion. Second is the reasoning.

(A) Those who convince others that they are capable of succeeding usually have  few self-doubts . - WRONG.  'Self-doubts' now is identified by 'few' which is uncertain to confirm. This is when we are sure that convincing others is a sign of acting confidently. 
(B) Genuine confidence is often a  by-product of  pretended self-confidence. - CORRECT. I n every possible manner, this is a true strengthener. If its not a by-product then the negated statement weakens the argument.  
(C) Success is  usually more a matter of luck  or determination than of skill. - WRONG.  Weakener. 
(D)  Many  people who behave in a self-confident manner are genuinely confident about their abilities. - WRONG.  Many can be not even after behaving self-confidently. 
(E) Self-doubt can hamper as well as aid the development of the skills necessary for success. - WRONG.  Irrelevant.

Answer B.

Basshead · Answer

Conclusion: If one wants to succeed, then one should act as though one were genuinely confident about one’s abilities, even if one actually distrusts one’s skills.

Premise: Success is much more easily obtained by those who genuinely believe themselves capable of succeeding than by those filled with self-doubts.

The argument concludes that, if one wants to succeed, one should act as though one were  genuinely  confident. However, the premise states that, for those who genuinely   believe   themselves capable, success is more easily obtained.

To strengthen the argument, we should find a way to connect the premise to the conclusion -- that belief somehow equates to confidence. B gets to this point and is the answer.

D is wrong because it tells us about how people  actually  behave. However, the argument revolves around how one  should  act in order to succeed.

These are two different groups of people:  people who should act in a particular way  and p eople who do actually behave in a certain way .

VerbalBot · Answer

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If one wants to succeed, then one should act as though one were

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If one wants to succeed, then one should act as though one were

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