Power Score Course Book p. 229 #8

[saranash1]

I don't understand how the answer choice is E. I eliminated all of the answers. I eliminated answer choice E because, I don't believe we can determine that "the book reviewer does not believe that she knows San Francisco better than Peter Lee". The book reviewer claims that, "When i read a novel set in a city I know well, I must see that the writer knows the city at least as well as I do if I am going to take the writer seriously."
She then goes on to say, "Peter Lee's second novel is set in San Francisco. In this Novel, as in his first, Lee passes my test with flying colors." In my opinion those statements do not indicate that the review believes that she knows the city better than Peter Lee.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Sara,

This is another tough question!

Nikki posted a lengthy comment on this question in another thread on this board, over at http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... =19&t=2515. Please take a look at that explanation, and let me know if it helps clarify this one for you. If not, we'll come back and add a bit more to the explanation.

Thanks!

[saranash1]

That answer didn't seem to address why the answer is correct that the author "does not believe that she knows SF better than Peter Lee does. It seems to me that we can only infer that the reviewer believes that the novelist knows the city at least as well as she does. We dont' know whether or not she believes that she knows SF better than Peter lee or not?

[Jason Schultz]

Hi saranash,

When you said: "we can only infer that the reviewer believes that the novelist knows the city at least as well as she does." You are hitting right on the answer, simply phrased in a different way than the answer choice. Are you tripped up by the word "believes"?

Note that the last sentence states that "Lee passes my test with flying colors." The "test" she is referencing is that which she sets up in the stimulus - Does the writer know the city at least as well as her? If they do, she likes the book (First, third, and fourth sentence). If they do not, she spots them as "faking" and does not trust the writer (Second sentence).

Since she wouldn't apply the test unless she herself knew the city well, and we know she liked the book, we can infer that she did not know the city better than Lee. If she did or believed she did, it would trigger the conditional in the second sentence and she wouldn't trust him.

Does that help?