- Wed Mar 09, 2016 4:30 pm
#22475
The following is a response to a question we received:
Here is a helpful inference ladder: you can always infer the lower quantity modifier from the higher quantity modifier. In other words, going down the ladder is a matter of certainty: if I have all the T-shirts in the world, I definitely have most of them, I clearly have many, and it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that I have some, i.e. at least one, T-shirt. By contrast, going up the ladder is merely a matter of possibility: if I have some marbles, it is possible, but not certain, that I have many marbles; likewise, if I have many marbles, I could have most of them, but we can’t say for sure that I do:
All
Most
Many
Some
Hope this clears things up!
I had a question about the words "some" and "many". on page 122 in the LR Bible it says that "many" and "some" could not be reversed and it was used as an example of an incorrect answer. if the stimulus says "many" people have "some" type of security system you cannot reverse this and have it say "some" people have "many" types of security systems. this is automatically incorrect. however on page 126, 127 the book states that "many can mean some" and was used as the explanation for why the answer was correct! I am not seeing the difference. Please help.“Many” entails “some;” however, “some” does not entail “many.” For instance, if I told you that I own many T-shirts, clearly it must be true that I own some T-shirts. This inference cannot be made in reverse: if I said, “I have some T-shirts,” it does not automatically follow that I have many of them. It would be entirely possible, however unlikely, that I have only one T-shirt. Why? Because, technically speaking, “some” means “at least one.” By contrast, “many” cannot mean just one. While we cannot say for certain that "many" entails “most,” it designates a quantity that is certainly greater than 1.
Here is a helpful inference ladder: you can always infer the lower quantity modifier from the higher quantity modifier. In other words, going down the ladder is a matter of certainty: if I have all the T-shirts in the world, I definitely have most of them, I clearly have many, and it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that I have some, i.e. at least one, T-shirt. By contrast, going up the ladder is merely a matter of possibility: if I have some marbles, it is possible, but not certain, that I have many marbles; likewise, if I have many marbles, I could have most of them, but we can’t say for sure that I do:
All
Most
Many
Some
Hope this clears things up!
Nikki Siclunov
PowerScore Test Preparation
PowerScore Test Preparation