In 1712 the government of Country

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope: before 1st censor9% picked this

   More books critical of Country Y’s government were published before the appointment of the first

   We don't have any information about how many books were published before the 1st censor, so there's no way we could prove this claim. It's trying to fish people into speculating that, "If there wasn't a censor before, then there were probably more books critical published." You'd be absolutely-probably right. It's just not a guarantee, and the question asks for a must be true (properly concluded / properly drawn / follows logically = must be true)

   9%
2. B

   Must Be False5% picked this

   The first censor and the second censor prohibited the publication of the same number

   We know specifically this is not the case. In order to make the math work, the 1st censor has to be looking at more manuscripts than the 2nd censor. 1st censor rejects 50% of bigger # of submissions 2nd censor rejects 25% of smaller # of submissions

   5%
3. C

   Correct70% picked this

   More book manuscripts were submitted for approval to the first censor than

   Why this is right

   This is what we were predicting. 1st censor approved 50% of submissions. 2nd censor approved 75% of submissions. The ultimate number approved was the same. So if 50% of x = 75% of y then x > y

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

   70%
4. D

   Too Speculative9% picked this

   The second censor allowed some book manuscripts to be published that the first censor would have considered critical

   This sounds somewhat plausible since the 2nd censor was only rejecting 25% of submissions, but we don't know that the censor's standards were more lax. It could just as easily be that book writers learned what was / wasn't going to get through the censors, so by the time the 2nd censor was working, the submissions were more realistic in hiding any criticisms of the government.

   9%
5. E

   Out of Scope: number of writers7% picked this

   The number of writers who wrote published manuscripts was greater under the first censor than

   We know the number of submissions had to be higher, but that doesn't guarantee there were a higher number of writers. The same (or even a smaller) number of writers could still result in more overall submissions if each writer was submitting more manuscripts per person than they used to.

   7%