Logical Reasoning: Question Type Training

[Aleshadm]

In chapter 2 (MBT) #48 of the LR:QTT I am not sure I understand why the correct answer is "A." I was going to choose "D" but then I realized the answers essentially say the same thing in different ways. (A) states: Jennifer did not use two weeks of paid vacation time to which she was entitled last year.
(D) states: last year Jennifer took only one week of paid vacation time to which she was entitled.

For answer "D" it can be inferred that since she only took one week that she didn't take the other two.

And for answer "A" it can be inferred that she only took one week leaving her with two paid weeks left.

Am I over analyzing or putting words there that shouldn't be inferred?

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi, Aleshadm,

Great question. First we need to work through this premises to determine what we actually know. Then we must compare the two answer choices you have highlighted (they do not actually say the same thing!).

What we know:

• Jennifer has been an employee for just over three years.
  
  This entitles her to exactly three weeks of vacation for the year.
  
  Up to one half of the time from previous year may be used in the current year.

We can infer:

• Jennifer had left exactly two of the three weeks of vacation time to which she was entitled from the previous year.

Now let's compare answer choices A and D.

A precisely matches our prephrase. She must have had exactly two weeks left at the end of the previous year.

D is attractive but incorrect. It tells us how much time she did use but does not tell us how much time she was entitled to last year. We assume she was only entitled to exactly three weeks; however, since the previous year was her second year, there is a possibility that she carried over unused time from her first year, which would have meant that she could have had more than three weeks paid vacation. If she had only used one week of, say, four weeks in the previous year, D would not follow logically. Therefore D is not necessarily true and is incorrect.

I hope this explanation helps clear up this problem for you.