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 miriamson07
  • Posts: 105
  • Joined: Jul 10, 2024
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#113319
Hi
Jon Denning wrote:Happy to help! As Jeff (correctly) notes, the key here is the word "refuse," as in "which of the following would the author refuse?" If you just think of the question that way---ignoring the "LEAST" for now---then you would look for an answer that the author would disagree with, or that would be incompatible with what the author has told us in the text. It would be the same as if it said "which of the following would the author deny is true?," or "which of the following would the author find hardest to believe?" Those are classic Cannot Be True forms!

So that's the starting point!

The Except comes from the "LEAST likely" bit, which flips it: that means there are now four answers that fit the Cannot Be True model, and one exception. The four that the author would refuse---that the author would disagree with---are wrong, and the one that's left over is correct.

If you compare that to example #3 in that same set you'll note that the starting point is Van Gogh "choosing" a subject, i.e. something Van Gogh would agree with. That's what makes it a Must Be True. Throw a "LEAST" into that question stem and you get a Must Be True Except: four wrong answers are things Van Gogh would choose to paint, and the remaining answer is something either Van Gogh wouldn't or that we simply can't know, and that one's right.

I hope that helps!
Hi Jon,

That makes sense, especially since page 213 says that we should treat the word "least" exactly the same as "except." So I suppose, the question stem could be stated as, "the author would be likely to refuse which one of the following topics EXCEPT." But, my question is, wouldn't the type of question this is depend on the content of the passage? For example, if the passage talks about what the author would refuse, as opposed to what the author would accept, wouldn't this become a "must be true except" question? Please let me know if I'm confusing things here. Thanks again!

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