Logical Reasoning

PT129 · S1 · Q9 One should always capitalize the main words

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One should always capitalize the main words and the first and last words of a title.

Facts

conditionals (always, never)

Main word of title → should capitalize First or Last word of title → should capitalize

Article / prep / conj < 5 LTRS and → shouldn't capitalize Occurs in middle of title

Evaluate

The #1 thing we read for on MBT is conditionals. We have two of them here. Do they chain together?

No, they sort of outline different rules for different words in a title. We end up feeling like we know which words we should / shouldn't capitalize, other than for prepositions / conjunctions 5 letters or longer. They don't qualify under the rule that says can't capitalize. And (unless we'd call them a "main word"), they don't qualify under the rule that says must capitalize.

So it seems like we have some freedom there to capitalize or not capitalize.

Goal

No way to know where this is going, so just find the most provable answer.

9.

Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the statements above?

  1. If a word that is

    Reversal

    On one hand, we should be able to get rid of by seeing that this answer puts First or Last word as an outcome: → First or Last word Since we had that concept as a trigger, we know something is fishy. But the answer is intuitively pleasing. How else would we be capitalizing a preposition or conjunction unless it was first or last word? Ohhh, wait, if it's 5 letters or more then we don't have a rule for it. So it's possible that we should capitalize it, even though it's not first or last. e.g. There's Something About Mary

    15% picked this

  2. Correct

    If a word in the

    Why this is right

    This is a contrapositive of Rule 2, although they leave out the word preposition to try to make it less appealing. Not in the middle of title should be → or capitalized Not article / prep / conj < 5 LTRS They're telling us it should be capitalized and IS in the middle of the title, so the only option that leaves is: Not article / prep / conj < 5 LTRS When we have a rule like A → B or C We can rewrite it, or re-think it, as saying A and ~B → C The 2nd sentence is saying Capital → ~Middle or ~Small art/prep/conj So this answer is doing that same manipulation Capital and Middle → ~Small art/prep/conj But if all this conditional logic is gross, you can just think to yourself, "they told me never to capitalize small prepositions and conjunctions in the middle of the title (e.g. Gone with the Wind), so if I'm capitalizing something in the middle, it better not be a small preposition / conjunction."

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

    65% picked this

  3. All prepositions and conjunctions with

    Too Strong

    The first rule told us that the First and Last word will always be capitalized, so when those words are prepositions / conjunctions, they'll be capitalized. e.g. Of Mice and Men For Once in My Life And I Love Her

    4% picked this

  4. If a word is neither

    Unsupported

    This is just an illegal negation of the first rule. It's saying, "if something ISN'T this trigger, then it ISN'T this outcome". But this is too strong an idea. We're allowed to capitalize long prepositions / conjunctions in the middle of the title. e.g. What Lies Beneath the Shadows

    10% picked this

  5. Prepositions and conjunctions with five

    Out of Scope

    We were told art / prep / conj < 5 letters → don't capitalize And this is just doing an illegal negation and saying, art / prep / conj ≥ 5 letters → do capitalize WWe're allowed t

    6% picked this

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