Many names that people think of as Irish were actually brought to Irel

Question

Many names that people think of as Irish were actually brought to Ireland by the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. Names like Seamus, Patrick, and Sean are so widespread because of the Catholic Church’s requirements that Irish sons and daughters be named after saints. Seamus is the Gaelic version of James, and Sean is the Gaelic version of John. Criminal laws in Ireland from the 1500s to the 1900s forbade parents from giving their children traditional Irish names like Cathal, Aodh, and Brian. Now that parents are free to do so, they should give their children these long-forgotten, traditional names that are truly Irish.

Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above argument?

(A) The author of the argument considers names like Aodh and Brian that were used in Ireland since before the 12th century to be “traditional.”

(B) Irish parents prefer to give their children names that are as traditionally Irish as possible.

(C) Parents in Ireland are now free to give their children any name that they choose.

(D) The author of the argument feels that, even after hundreds of years of use, names like Patrick, Seamus, and Sean are still not “truly Irish.”

(E) The author of the argument is still bitter about the introduction of non-Irish names into Ireland in the 12th century.

Source:  GMAT for Dummies

aurobindomahanty · Answer

(A) The author of the argument considers names like Aodh and Brian that were used in Ireland since before the 12th century to be “traditional.”--> No where it is mentioned that the names were used before 12th century.
(B) Irish parents prefer to give their children names that are as traditionally Irish as possible. --> not mentioned
(C) Parents in Ireland are now free to give their children any name that they choose.--> the argument mentions that parents are free to give traditional names not any names.
(D) The author of the argument feels that, even after hundreds of years of use, names like Patrick, Seamus, and Sean are still not “truly Irish.” correct
(E) The author of the argument is still bitter about the introduction of non-Irish names into Ireland in the 12th century.--> illogical.

IanStewart · Answer

There is a major logical error in this question, and studying questions like this can do a test taker more harm than good. The question writer has misunderstood, when stating an inference in an answer choice, which part is the inference, and which part is not. If you saw this question stem:

Cows do not have red and green color receptors in their visual system. To a cow, a red or green object will appear to be a light or dark shade of grey, depending on the brightness of the object.

and were then asked what inference you could reasonably draw, and this was one answer choice:

A) By sight alone, a cow would not be able to distinguish cherries, which are red, from gooseberries, which are green, if the berries were of similar size, shape and brightness.

that would be the correct answer. Everything about the berries is the same besides their color, and the stem tells us cows can't tell the difference between red and green. This is certainly  not  a wrong answer because we can't infer "cherries are red" from the question stem. "Cherries are red", in this answer choice, is additional descriptive information about cherries that we are allowed to use to draw the stated inference -- it's a premise, not an inference.

This question is confused on this point. It says in the stem that we have "traditional Irish names like Cathal, Aodh, and Brian." So the author considers those names to be "traditional". Answer A then says "(A) The author of the argument considers names like Aodh and Brian that were used in Ireland since before the 12th century to be “traditional.”" That answer is definitely correct. The part of that answer choice that describes an inference is this: "the author considers names like Aodh and Brian to be traditional." The fact that these names were used "before the 12th century" is a descriptive premise, just like the "which are red" that I used to describe cherries above. It is definitely not part of the inference of answer choice A, but if the source claims A is wrong, the only justification the source could have is that "we can't infer when these names were used", which is looking at inference questions incorrectly. So answer A is certainly right here, but answer D is good too, and the question has more than one right answer, which is obviously a problem.

massan · Answer

I go with D.

Many names that people think of as Irish were actually brought to Ireland by the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. Names like Seamus, Patrick, and Sean are so widespread because of the Catholic Church’s requirements that Irish sons and daughters be named after saints. Seamus is the Gaelic version of James, and Sean is the Gaelic version of John. Criminal laws in Ireland from the 1500s to the 1900s forbade parents from giving their children traditional Irish names like Cathal, Aodh, and Brian. Now that parents are free to do so, they should give their children these long-forgotten, traditional names that are truly Irish.

Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above argument?

(A) The author of the argument considers names like Aodh and Brian that were used in Ireland since before the 12th century to be “traditional.”
-> completely opposite.
(B) Irish parents prefer to give their children names that are as traditionally Irish as possible.
-> author prefers these names, not parents.
(C) Parents in Ireland are now free to give their children any name that they choose.
-> no. we do not know whether parents are free to give their children names such as 'must_destroy_ireland_I_am_robot'. 
(D) The author of the argument feels that, even after hundreds of years of use, names like Patrick, Seamus, and Sean are still not “truly Irish.”
-> did not think of this, but interesting point. These names have been in use for hundreds of years of use, but the author thinks parents should name their children more 'true Irish', not the names in use.
Best answer so far by far!
(E) The author of the argument is still bitter about the introduction of non-Irish names into Ireland in the 12th century.
Is he/she? The passage never mention anything about the feeling of the author.

sidharth2412 · Answer

Please explain how can I negate C
I got why the answer is D
but I'm unable to negate C

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

This critical-reasoning question provides reasons for the choosing of Irish boys’ names. The argument explains that many  “Irish”  names were actually imposed on the Irish by AngloNorman invaders.

The question asks you to make an inference based on the argument. You usually make inferences based on one of the premises rather than the conclusion, and inferences aren’t explicitly stated in the argument.

Choice A  just reiterates information that the author states directly, so it can’t be an inference.  Choice C  also mentions a fact that is stated directly in the premises.

Choices B  and  E  have the opposite problem; their information isn’t stated in the premises, but you also don’t have enough information to infer them from the premises. Concluding that Irish parents prefer the most traditional name available is too far-fetched, as is concluding that the author is actually bitter about the introduction of non-Irish names to Ireland.

The only answer choice that works is D. If the author of the argument speaks of traditional names as those that were Irish before the 12th century, the author must think that Seamus, Sean, and Patrick are not traditional names.

Answer: D

swap29 · Answer

Is this a good question to practice? Why is D the answer choice and not A?

Bunuel · Answer

No, the question is not good. Archiving it.

Many names that people think of as Irish were actually brought to Irel

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