#8 - This stamp is probably highly valuable, since it

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Justify the Conclusion. The correct answer choice is (B)

The conclusion in this Justify question is that the stamp in question is “probably highly valuable.” This conclusion is based on the fact that the stamp exhibits a printing error. Further, we are told that a stamp’s value is determined by its condition, rarity, and age. Finally, it is stated that this stamp is in good condition and quite old. Note here that the rarity of the stamp is not mentioned, but if you could show that the stamp is rare then it would meet all of the conditions needed to be valuable. Also, pay attention to the fact that the only characteristic given about the stamp is the printing error. Thus, if you could show that this printing error makes this stamp quite rare, then the conclusion about the stamp’s value would be proven.

Answer choice (A): We have already been told that the stamp is quite old, but there is no way to know if it is old enough to be “highly valuable.” Hence this answer choice does not definitively prove that the conclusion is correct.

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. If printing errors are always confined to only a few stamps, then a stamp with a printing error would by definition be rare. So this stamp has all of the necessary pieces to be valuable: good condition, quite old, and rare. So the conclusion is proven true.

Answer choice (C): The fact that most stamps of the type discussed are already possessed by collectors does not prove that this stamp is valuable.

Answer choice (D): Knowing that rarity and age play an equal role in determining a stamp’s value still does not show that this particular stamp is old. So we cannot know based on this answer that this stamp is valuable.

Answer choice (E): We know that this stamp is in good condition, so information about stamps that are in poor condition does not apply here.

[lexigibbs]

I dont understand why this answer is B. I marked D and felt confident it was right because it says rarity and age determine the value of the stamp. In B the answer states that printing errors are ALWAYS confined to a few individual stamps. No where in the passage does it say printing errors are ALWAYS anything. It doesnt add up to me why B is right.

Thank you,

Lexi Gibbs

[Shannon Parker]

Hi Lexi,

Answer choice (D) is wrong in this case because there is nothing in the stimulus that indicates that rarity and age are, or need to be equally valued for the stamp to be valuable. The conclusion is that the stamp is probably valuable. The premises leading to this conclusion are; 1. The most important factors in determining a stamps value are its conditions, rarity and age; 2. The stamp is in good condition (fine specimen); 3. The stamp is old. 4. The stamp has a printing error.

It can readily be determined that 2/3 of the factors for high value are met. The condition of the stamp is good, because it is a fine specimen. The stamp is old. The only thing left to determine is its rarity. The stimulus makes no direct statement about the stamps rarity, but says that it is probably valuable "since it exhibits a printing error." Drawing on these premises we can prephrase an answer that implies that the stamp is rare. Answer Choice (B) is the only answer choice that satisfies this prephrase since, if "printing errors are always confined to a few individual stamps," and this stamp has a printing error, then there can only be a few stamps like it.

Hope this helps

~Shannon

[lexigibbs]

I'm still struggling with the world always in this one though. How can we assume always in this question if the passage never says anything about always. You said the passage says nothing about rarity and age needing to be equal but it also doesnt say anything about printing errors always being anything...

[Adam Tyson]

Hi Lexi! Hope I can help out here. It seems that your approach on this question is something like the way we approach Must Be True questions - you are looking for information in the stimulus that proves the answer is correct, and finding no proof to support the "always" claim. The problem with that approach is that this question, a Justify the Conclusion question, is not in the same family of questions as Must Be True. Instead, this one fits in the Help family, along with Strengthen and Assumption and Resolve the Paradox questions. For these question types, we don't rely on the stimulus to prove the answer, but just the opposite - we want new info in the correct answer that has a positive, helpful impact on the argument in the stimulus.

So, instead of looking to see if the stimulus proves anything about "always", look to see if adding the new info about "always" helps the argument in the stimulus. If that answer is true - if printing errors are always confined to a few individual stamps - doesn't that help the argument that this stamp, which has a printing error, is rare and thus probably valuable? New information is not only welcomed in this question type, it's required - you HAVE to bring in something new to prove that the conclusion is correct (that's what a Justify question is all about - perfecting the argument, proving the conclusion).

Pay close attention to the question stem, and what family it belongs in. If it is a type that needs new info, like a strengthen or weaken, then the correct answer must have some new info. If it falls into a family that rejects new info and relies solely on the contents of the stimulus (Must Be True, Main Point, Method of Reasoning, Flaw in the Reasoning, and more - see Lesson 1 for the full list) then reject answers that bring in such new info and use only the stimulus to prove your answer.

I hope that clears it up for you. Embrace the "always" here - it's your best friend, and it shows up in the answer to help you when you need it!

[UC13]

For answer choice B, what if there are only a total of 4 stamps printed, out of which "a few" have a printing error? How does that make the error stamps rare?

Is it because we're told in the first sentence that the stamp is "probably highly valuable"?

[Kristina Moen]

Hi UC,

Great question. To start with, the first sentence is the conclusion. So we cannot accept that the stamp is "probably highly valuable" as fact. That is what the author wants us to conclude! What we DO know about this stamp is that it exhibits a printing error, is a fine specimen, and is quite old. The author also tells us a bit more about stamps in general (remember, you're not expected to have any outside knowledge, and that includes topics like stamp collecting ) - the most important factors in determining a stamp's value (assuming it's in good condition) are rarity and age. This is a Justify the Conclusion question, which means we are looking the missing piece in this equation.

What would help us conclude that this stamp is probably highly valuable? Well, it meets the criteria of being in good condition ("a fine specimen") and being old. However, we are missing the rarity piece. We only know this stamp has a printing error. Does that make it rare? With the stimulus as it is... we don't know, and thus we can't conclude that the stamp is highly valuable. Answer choice (B) is the missing piece. With your hypothetical, if only four stamps are printed and three have a printing error - that would still make this stamp quite rare, right? Only three in the whole world!

[freddythepup]

Hi, I get why answer choice B is correct. but I chose A originally because I thought if the older stamp it is, the more valuable it is true, then if we have a stamp that is "quite old", then that also shows it is very valuable. Can you explain in more detail why we have to eliminate A? I get why B is better choice, but I don't have a better answer as to why A must be incorrect. Thanks.

[Alex Bodaken]

freddythepup,

Thanks for the question! Answer choice (A) is incorrect because it talks about correlation between age and value, but we already knew that from the stimulus ("The most important factors in determining a stamp’s value, assuming it is in good condition, are its rarity and age.") So (A) doesn't really give us any new information by telling us that an older the stamp is the more valuable it is, it just puts a finer point on something we already knew (that the stamp was valuable in part because it was old). But answer choice (B) tells us something new - that the stamp is rare ("Printing errors are always confined to a few individual stamps"). If that's the case, that's the missing piece of the puzzle - now we know (from the stimulus) that the stamp is in good condition ("fine specimen") and that it is old ("quite old") AND we know now (from the answer choice) that the stamp is rare. That is the piece of the puzzle that allows us to fully support the conclusion that the stamp is "probably highly valuable."

Hope that helps!
Alex

[Mariam]

Hello- I was stuck between C and B because I thought they both support the idea of the stamp with printing errors being rare. I thought C was a contender because if most stamps with printing errors belong to collectors that would make them rare. Please expand on why C is not the correct answer choice.