#24 - The increasing complexity of scientific inquiry has

[Shannon Parker]

Here is a summary of what I have because the most/many/some/generally etc things really trip me up. Can you confirm this?


going from "many" in stimulus to "some" in answer choice is perfectly fine, as they both mean 1-100

going from "many" in stimulus to "most" in answer choice is NOT okay, since many is 1-100, while most is 51-100 - right? But going from "most" to "many" would be acceptable?

going from "most" in stimulus to "some" in answer choice is okay, since "some" is encompassed in the "most" - right? But the reverse going from "some" to "most" would not be okay because you can't go from a smaller range to a larger one?

typically, generally, usually, more often than not are the frequency equivalents of "most", which all mean 51-100 so they are interchangeable always - correct?

Be careful with this. It would depend on exactly what you are doing when going from the stimulus to the answer choice. Just remember how each term is quantified, and what you are trying to accomplish.

[jessicamorehead]

Shannon, I'm not sure what you mean by that. Can you please expand on this?

[James Finch]

Hi Jessica,

Reading through your list of terms and definitions, it looks like you have a firm grasp on what these words mean for LSAT purposes. As you noted:

All = 100
Not All = 0-99
None = 0
Not None/Some = 1-100
Most/Generally/Usually/Typically/Majority = 51-100

Just remember their extreme possibilities whenever you have to put those terms together. Occasionally a question will pop up where you're asked to infer that "almost all" of "not most" is always less than half the total, or something similar.

Those are the easy ones, and the most likely to show up in LR stimuli. But "Few," "Many" and "Several" are trickier, as are their logical opposites. For those terms, I would caution against trying to put an exact quantity on them, instead focusing on their usage relative to other quantities given in the stimulus. These terms only give you an idea of absolute raw numbers, not ratios. But for reference, here are their definitions:

Few = 2 or more, >Many
Not a Few = Less than or Greater than a Few
Several = 3 or more
Many = "A large number," at least 2 or more
Not Many = >"A large number"

So you can see the second set of definitions doesn't give a lot of information on their own. More important is how they are presented in the stimulus, i.e. "many" of a thing being used to distinguish from just a "few" of a thing.

More reading on this is available here

Hope this helps!

[selenapatel]

Hello,

I was hoping I could get further clarification on why Option D for question 4 on pg. 142 of the LRB is incorrect. I understand that answer D is a reverse answer but the wording of the answer to me seems similar to the stimulus and seems like it would be a valid answer to the question stem. I would just want more clarity on what exactly in the wording of the answer choice makes it incorrect/changes the meaning of what was in the stimulus.

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hello,

I was hoping I could get further clarification on why Option D for question 4 on pg. 142 of the LRB is incorrect. I understand that answer D is a reverse answer but the wording of the answer to me seems similar to the stimulus and seems like it would be a valid answer to the question stem. I would just want more clarity on what exactly in the wording of the answer choice makes it incorrect/changes the meaning of what was in the stimulus.

Hi Selena,

I have moved your post to the thread discussing this question. Please review the explanation on page 1 of this thread and the subsequent discussion, and let us know if that helps or if you still have further questions!

Thanks!