#14 - In order for life to exist on the recently discovered

[Administrator]

Please post below with any questions!

[Kiara9014]

What makes C an incorrect answer?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Kiara,

Good news! Answer choice (C) is the correct answer here.

Our stimulus contains a conditional statement (if life--->water) and draws a conclusion based on the contrapositive (No water--->no life). Answer choice (C) does the exact same thing (increase drilling---->buy new equipment, not buy new equipment--->not increase drilling).

I'm not sure why you saw it as incorrect, but answer choice (C) is the right answer here.

Hope that helps!
Rachael

[HenryP]

I'm having a hard time grasping the relation between sufficient conditions and necessary conditions. In this example I understand the Q Stem's conditional relationship:
- water is necessary for life (this works)
- life is necessary for water (this does not work because "there will still be water if no life is present." Or you can think of it as "water doesn't depend on life, water solely exists."

However, I don't understand the correct Answer Choice's (AC) conditional relationship:
- an increase in drilling is necessary to buy new equipment (something occurs, drilling, you have to support it, equip.)
- new equipment is necessary for an increase in drilling (equipment required for increase in drilling)

Did I flip the sufficient and necessary conditions in the AC example? What is a good way to practice this so it comes more naturally/quicker? How can I simplify my thinking with the suff/nec. conditions? I often get stuck on these.

Thank you,

[Adam Tyson]

The second sentence of answer C establishes the conditional relationship, HenryP. The sufficient condition is introduced by the word "if": if they were planning on increasing their drilling. The necessary condition follows after the comma: they would be buying new drilling equipment.

Using indicator words in this way will help you to recognize what is sufficient and what is necessary in a conditional relationship. From there, it's just a matter of applying the rules. If the sufficient condition occurs, the necessary condition must also occur, and if the necessary condition does not occur, the sufficient condition cannot occur.

The first sentence in answer C tells us that the necessary condition - buying new equipment - is not occurring. Thus, we can conclude that the sufficient condition is also not occurring. We have a valid contrapositive, just as we had in the stimulus.

Your analysis indicates that you thought drilling was necessary, but that's not what the language tells us. The "if" indicates what is sufficient, not what is necessary. Memorize those indicators and you'll find these types of questions much easier.