Logical Reasoning

PT101 · S3 · Q8 Jones is selling a house to Smith

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Jones is selling a house to Smith.

Facts

conditionals (any / any other / only)

w/in 1st year of owning and → Jones is responsible defect w/ roof / roof support

past 1st year of owning or → Jones not responsible ~defect w/ roof / roof support

~exterior wall → ~roof support

Evaluate

We have several rules. The first two don't chain together, because they cover opposite cases, but they basically combine to let us know that Jones is responsible for repairs if and only if it's within the first year and if it's a defect in the roof or roof-supporting components.

The facts about the truss roof at the end feel like they might be designed to trigger a rule. We're hearing that exterior walls support the roof, but that would mean that no other walls support the roof.

We know that if something isn't roof or roof-supporting, then it ain't Jones's problem!

Goal

So the answer might say,

Let's pick whatever answer we can best prove.

8.

It can be properly concluded from the information above that

  1. Jones did not know of

    Unsupported

    The passage tells us nothing about what Jones knew when the contract was written. Jones could have known about defects, suspected them, or had no idea. We need to be able to derive our correct answer from the passage, and Jones's awareness is never mentioned.

    2% picked this

  2. although other components of the

    Unsupported

    The passage doesn't tell us the current state of the roof or roof-supporting components, or of any other part of the house. This paragraph just lays out the rules for who is / isn't responsible for what. It doesn't cover at all the current condition of any parts of the house.

    2% picked this

  3. Correct

    the contract does not oblige

    Why this is right

    This is a complicated way of saying Jones isn't responsible for the interior walls (or any other kind of wall that sits in between exterior and interior, haha). The contract only obliges Jones to repair defects in the roof or roof-supporting components, and the only walls that are roof-supporting are exterior walls.

    Skill tested: Must be True · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    79% picked this

  4. Smith will be obligated to

    Unsupported

    The passage describes Jones's obligations under the contract; it says nothing about what Smith is or isn't obligated to do. We can't infer Smith's repair obligations from what we're told. In more common sense terms, the owner of a house isn't obligated to repair anything. If something breaks in your house, you're not obligated to fix it. You can just leave it broken.

    17% picked this

  5. in the past Jones has

    Unsupported

    The passage provides no information about the past. There is just a pair of rules about who repairs what, once the sale goes through, and a pair of facts about the house's current roof.

    1% picked this

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