Principle: Only if a professor believes a student knowingly presented

Question

Principle: Only if a professor believes a student knowingly presented someone else's ideas without attribution should the professor make an official determination that the student has committed plagiarism.

Application: It is not the case that Professor Serfin should make an official determination that Walters committed plagiarism in the term paper about Willa Cather that Walters wrote for Serfin's class.

Which of the following, if true. justifies the above application of the principle?

(A) Professor Serfin does not have completely compelling evidence to conclude that Walters presented someone else's ideas as if they were his own in the term paper about Willa Cather.

(B) If Walters had realized that the main thesis of his term paper is identical to the main thesis of a book he had read, Walters would have attributed the idea to the book.

(C) Although the main thesis of Walter's term paper is identical to that of a book that he did not cite, Professor Serfin is convinced that Walters did not knowingly try to pass anyone else's ideas off as his own.

(D) Walters does not believe that Professor Serfin should make an official determination that he plagiarized.

(E) Professor Serfin has no intention of making an official determination that Walters plagiarized in the class.

Saasingh · Answer

Between B & C, the only thing that matters is what the professor "believes" not what really the intentions of the student were. So answer should be C (talks about professors belief) and not B(because this talks about whether in reality the student intended to cheat )

kntombat · Answer

AndrewN ,
I am really confused between B and C, and would love to hear your take on this particular question.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  kntombat . I was more between (A) and (C) myself, but I will go through each of the options below.

Wow, what phrasing. You know you are looking at a passage from the LSAT when it bandies about this kind of language:  principle  and  application ? Note that we are not talking about a  principal , a person who might voice the first opinion. This is not the same as a dialogue-based passage on the GMAT™, exactly. But it is still CR-like, enough to warrant a closer look.

At first glance, this might look fine. But  completely compelling evidence  overstates the case. The passage does not even mention  evidence , let alone such a high degree of evidence, for a professor to make  an official determination . The operative word from the passage is  believes  instead: in order to make a determination on plagiarism, a professor needs to  believe  that a student knowingly or unknowingly sought to pass off the ideas of someone else. This answer cannot be correct.

Notice that the professor has dropped from the picture here. We have no insight into what Walters may have done or for what reason. All we know is that according to the application, Professor Serfin should  not  make an official determination on the paper Walters submitted.

This makes sense. The  although  clause presents a reason that plagiarism is even being considered—matching theses without citation—and the professor does not  believe  that Walters plagiarized the paper. The application goes against the professor, which does not necessarily mean that the paper was plagiarized, but keep in mind, we are only looking to justify  the above application of the principle , and all the pieces fit.

Again, the focus is on Walters when it should be on the professor. The passage is not concerned with what Walters believes.

If the professor does not wish to make an official determination on the matter, then the application is unwarranted. We are looking to justify the application, not go against it.

In the end, only (C) holds up to scrutiny. I hope the above analysis may be of use to you and others in the community. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

Holdbeer · Answer

This one actually is about the if-then statement

notice here "only if = then" you have to make a small reverse = "if professor make official determination ... then professor believes students presented someone's idea"

this is only tell us (1) determination = professor believe (2) professor not believe = not determination

we are given "no determination" you have to find choice that says "professor not believe" hence answer choice C

VerbalBot · Answer

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Principle: Only if a professor believes a student knowingly presented

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Principle: Only if a professor believes a student knowingly presented

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