- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 1419
- Joined: Dec 15, 2011
- Thu Jul 06, 2023 4:34 pm
#102303
Hi canecaldo
It can be hard to negate statements, especially when they are complex. Here's a trick you can use for any negation: In front of the answer choice, add the phrase "it is not the case that....." and read the answer choice. That will be the negation. It works on any answer choice, any time. However, it's not always the most clear of the ways to negate something, so it can be valuable to practice other ways as well.
In this case, we'd negate by changing the "some" to "none" and leaving the rest of the statement the same. If you change multiple parts of an answer choice, you are going to run into trouble because it's not the logical opposite anymore. Our answer choice is that some of the ills do not threaten the nation. The negated form is that none of the ills do not threaten the nation.
What awkward phrasing! Personally, I'd clean it up a bit more to make it easier to understand. This is a dangerous step however because if you aren't confident that you can clarify it without changing the meaning, you should just leave it as is. To make it more clear, I'd say something like "there are no ills that do not threaten the nation." If there are none that don't threaten, that means that all of the ills that are involved threaten the nation.
Hope that helps!
It can be hard to negate statements, especially when they are complex. Here's a trick you can use for any negation: In front of the answer choice, add the phrase "it is not the case that....." and read the answer choice. That will be the negation. It works on any answer choice, any time. However, it's not always the most clear of the ways to negate something, so it can be valuable to practice other ways as well.
In this case, we'd negate by changing the "some" to "none" and leaving the rest of the statement the same. If you change multiple parts of an answer choice, you are going to run into trouble because it's not the logical opposite anymore. Our answer choice is that some of the ills do not threaten the nation. The negated form is that none of the ills do not threaten the nation.
What awkward phrasing! Personally, I'd clean it up a bit more to make it easier to understand. This is a dangerous step however because if you aren't confident that you can clarify it without changing the meaning, you should just leave it as is. To make it more clear, I'd say something like "there are no ills that do not threaten the nation." If there are none that don't threaten, that means that all of the ills that are involved threaten the nation.
Hope that helps!