If the economy is weak, then prices

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct45% picked this

   Either the economy is weak or investment

   Why this is right

   "Either X or Y" means that "at least one of these two things is true". But we know that both of those things are not true. The paragraph told us that investment was not decreasing. That idea triggered the contrapositive of our chained conditionals: economy ? unemployment ? investment weak rises decreases which told us that the economy is not weak. Our knowledge that investment is not decreasing and that the economy is not weak contradicts this answer.

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

   45%
2. B

   Could Be True7% picked this

   If unemployment rises, the prices remain

   This answer isn't something we can infer from the conditional we're given, economy ? unemployment ? investment weak rises decreases + prices constant But the conditional we're given doesn't contradict this. To contradict this answer, we would have needed to know that there are times when unemployment rises but prices are not constant. We don't have any example like that.

   7%
3. C

   Must Be True15% picked this

   The economy is weak only if

   "Only if" = right side, so this says economy weak ? investment decreases That's a valid inference from the conditional chain we were given. economy ? unemployment ? investment weak rises decreases + prices constant So, this is the opposite of what we want on a Must Be False question.

   15%
4. D

   Could Be True20% picked this

   Either the economy is weak or prices are

   It's possible that prices are constant. When we learn that investment isn't decreasing, it triggers the contrapositive. economy ? unemployment ? investment weak rises decreases (+ prices constant) The contrapositive rules out unemployment rises and rules out economy weak, but it doesn't have anything to do with prices constant. We know the economy is not weak, but it's possible that prices are still constant. We knew that weak economy was sufficient to trigger prices constant. It never said it was necessary, so prices could be constant even when the economy is not weak.

   20%
5. E

   Must Be True13% picked this

   Either unemployment is rising or the economy is

   We derived that the economy is not weak, so this answer must be true.

   13%