#14 - A study at a company found that most meetings showed

[Administrator]

Please post below with any questions!

[Margo]

I got this answer incorrect--I chose A--but I think I understand why this is incorrect.

The conclusion states that for a meeting to have max productivity, it needs to have a clear time frame and be no more than 30 min long.

I diagrammed this as:

If achieve max productivity clear time frame & no more than 30 min long

Is A incorrect because it is a mistaken reversal--it assumes that just because a meeting has a clear time frame and is no more than 30 min long, it is automatically maximally productive?

I can see that C is correct because it states that a meeting at the company will be maximally productive ONLY IF it has a clear time frame and lasts no more than 30 min. ("Only if" introduces the necessary condition here)
When I diagram C I got:
If maximum productivity clear time frame & no more than 30 min long

So, my diagrams for the conclusion and C are the same. Am I thinking about this the right way? Hope this post makes sense.
Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

Absolutely correct, Margo! The stimulus uses the word "needs" to indicate the necessary condition, and your diagram of that claim is perfect. A is indeed a Mistaken Reversal of that claim, while C is a restatement of that claim. Well done!

[aspiringdefender]

I got this question right but I still have a question.

I am having trouble with the "only if" part of answer C, the correct answer. I think that the "only if" is too strong, because the stimulus simply mentions some qualities that maximize the productivity of meetings, but does not demarcate them and make it so that they are the "only" qualities that maximize the productivity of a meeting. I think that the answer would be perfect without the word "only".

How should I approach this aspect of the answer choice?

[Dana D]

Hey aspiringdefender,

The last sentence of the stimulus says "For a meeting at the company to achieve maximum productivity, then, it needs to have a clear time frame and be no more than 30 minutes long." We need to accept the stimulus as true, and this sentence establishes a clear conditional rule:

Maximal productive meeting Clear time frame & under 30 minutes.

Answer choice (C) is just a restatemet of this conditional logic. Additionally, because the question stem asks us to restate the conclusion of the stimulus, we are only concerned with this last sentence of it - not any of the supporting premesis that came before it.

Hope that helps!