#5 - When girls are educated in single-sex secondary schools

[TargTru99^]

Greetings,

I did not realize that the stimulus in this question contained a mistaken reversal, which is why I think I got this question wrong. I interpreted getting "higher grades than any other woman in her first year," a superlative description, as something that was logically different from doing "better academically," a comparative description. How do I avoid making this mistake again?

[Adam Tyson]

Thanks for the question, TargTru99^! I think it's important to recognize that a superlative (the best, the most, the highest) is a form of comparative description. Certainly if you are the best, then you are better than all the others! As long as we recognize that there is a reasonable equivalence between high grades and academic performance, we should be able to translate the superlative to the comparative here (if you did the best academically, and there were others, then you did better than those others).

How do you avoid repeating that mistake? I think the answer is right here - you've seen it, and if you are faced with it again you will recognize it! That's one of the benefits of doing so many practice tests and questions - the familiarity you get with the material helps you spot traps that you once fell into, and avoid falling into them again. I doubt that difference will ever trouble you now that you've seen it and analyzed it.