Q12 - Alice will volunteer to work on

[chike_eze]

In real time, these matching question types slow me down -- on average, it takes me 2+ minutes.

Correct (C)
Question Type: Match Reasoning
Alice will volunteer only if Bruce volunteers and others promise to select Bruce. Bruce is willing but none of the others will promise to select him, so Alice will not volunteer.

Alice --> Bruce and Promise
Alice --> Bruce
Alice --> Promise
not Promise --> not Alice

C) Jim --> Sam and Elaine
Jim --> Sam
Jim --> Elaine
not Elaine --> not Jim

Wrong Answers:
A) Bill and Steve --> Time ("and" on wrong side.. stop here)
B) Leon --> Vera (no "and" X.. stop here)
D) Paula with Elise --> Jane with Arthur
not Paula --> Elise with Jane (does not match reasoning above)
E) Therese work --> Maria help and not raining
not rain --> Therese work (Flawed reasoning)

[maryadkins]

Great breakdown! Did you have a question or were you just sharing?

Breaking down the full question on matching tends to be time consuming, it's true. That's why you want to eliminate as many as you can based on mismatches, first, which it looks like you're doing. Apart from that? Just hope for very few on the test!

Nicely done.

[chike_eze]

Thanks. I've tried different strategies... most times, on a full time test, if I see a match-reasoning/flaw on number 17 and above, I usually skip it. This is because I am usually trailing my optimal timing at this point. And I am assuming that if I run into a match-the-reasoning/flaw question this late in the game, then it will probably be more difficult/time-consuming than if it it came up between 1 and 15.

On review, I usually get the match-the-reasoning/flaw question right, but most times I am still glad that I skipped it during the real test because it would have slowed me down (on average 2+ minutes).

Any more practical suggestions (in addition to the ones you gave) on how to attack these time-suckers??

This is an open question to others in the forum too... Thanks!

[ohthatpatrick]

The one shortcut that is often available on these questions (to get rid of 1-4 answers quickly) is to think about the type and strength of the conclusion.

By type, I mean is it:
a conditional claim
an either/or statement
a statement of fact
a comparative statement

By strength, I mean is it:
certain/sure/must/all/none
probably/likely/most
could/may/some
comparative vs. superlative

The conclusion here is "it is certain that Alice will not volunteer".

I would think to myself, "I need a statement of fact that is completely convinced of itself".

Use the argument trigger words in each answer choice to find the conclusion (without reading the rest of the answer).

For (A), I know the conclusion begins with "it is likely" because the previous clause was introduced with "since".

For (B), (C), (D), and (E) I know the conclusion is prefaced by the word "So".

(A) is a "likely" statement of fact. Not a match. Eliminate.

(B) and (C) are "certain statements" of fact, so I'd keep 'em.

(D) and (E) are conditional statements, so I'd eliminate them.

So the only answer choices I'd actually have to read (for the actual logic) are (B) and (C). This "match the type and strength of conclusion" shortcut has varying effectiveness. Occasionally it does nothing. Usually, it gets rid of 1 or 2. Sometimes it gets rid of 3 or 4.

Hope this helps.