121 comments

  • Yesterday

    I think Q3 i confusing because aggression is not a retaliatory force so it difficult to make the leap to compare retaliatory force maintained vs retaliatory force maintained by other nations.

    1
  • Sunday, Jul 12

    I think Q4 was written SO POORLY. I interpreted it so differently. First I found there referential (are) and the referent is "the instruments that are).

    Then i read it as "Detecting planets outside our solar system requires more sophisticated instruments than [the instruments that are] currently available.

    so then I asked myself, what is the quality/characteristic? "which kind of instrument will detect planets outside our solar system?" which brings us to compare the two different kinds of instruments mentioned: more sophisticated instruments (not available) and current (less sophisticated) instruments that are already available.

    so my final answer was written like this:

    1) instruments currently available vs. more sophisticate instruments

    2) which will detect planets outside our solar system?

    3) more sophisticated instruments.

    5
    Monday, Jul 13

    @AlenaKane that's exactly what i put too, honestly i'm still confused by it

    2
    4 days ago

    @AlenaKane same here :/

    1
  • Tuesday, Jul 7

    can q4 be interpreted as 1. (future) sophisticated instruments vs. current option

    2. which will detect planets outside our solar systems

    3. (future) sophisticated instrument

    1
  • Saturday, Jul 4

    I got a 3/5. I missed number 3 and I missed number 4. Need to learn more about "requires." It makes no sense. Noticed #3 and #4 both had this word and I missed both questions.

    THIS ONE IS MORE URGENT

    #4: Why is this not the answer for number 4?

    - Two things compared: Planets inside our solar system vs. planets outside our solar system.

    - Quality being compared: Which one requires more sophisticated instruments?

    - Winner: Planets outside our solar system.

    #3: For number 3, would this also be correct?

    -Two things compared: A nation vs. any other nation

    -Quality being compared: Which one has a greater retaliatory force?

    -Winner: A nation

    2
    Saturday, Jul 4

    @InderpalSingh for #4 its because it doesn't talk about planets inside our system at all; it's asking what requires detecting instruments outside of the system.

    1
    Monday, Jul 6

    @OliverJakacki But it can be implied. If it discusses planets in outside our solar sytem being difficult, it can be inferred that planets inside our solar system aren't especially when supplemental information about the technology tells us that fact.

    1
    Tuesday, Jul 7

    @InderpalSingh i mean sure, maybe you could say that the current tech can only view planets in the solar system but at that point ur just overthinking it lol, its asking what the sentence is explicitly comparing and it doesn't even mention planets inside the solar system

    1
  • Friday, Jun 26

    4/5! i got confused on q4

    3
  • Saturday, Jun 13

    I'm really confused on the quality of being compared?

    2
  • Edited Saturday, May 16

    I'm surprised but I got 4.5/5. This time you really had to understand referentials.

    I'm just not understand the winner for #4

    1
  • Tuesday, Apr 28

    For Q4 I did:

    Detecting planets outside our solar system requires [more sophisticated instruments than are currently available.]

    things being compared: instruments currently available vs. instruments currently unavailable

    quality being compared: more sophisticated

    the "winner": instruments currently available

    This shows that detecting planets outside our solar system requires instruments more sophisticated than currently available. Is this wrong?

    6
    Saturday, May 2

    @PowerUp_Tutoring Hi :) I put the "winner" as sophisticated instruments! I did this because to detect plants outside our solar system we would need more sophisticated instruments then those currently available. Just my thought process. I am sure there are multiple ways to break down the "winner"

    3
  • Monday, Apr 6

    Hi! This is what I did for Q1 & Q4.

    Q1:

    1. during the winter months now vs. during the winter months in the past 

    2. during the winter months, more people frequented public places such as libraries and community centers and, on the average, spent considerably longer periods in them....

    3. people spend longer periods in "them" now 

    I thought it was referring to the winter months now, and the winter months in the past.

    Q4:

    1. sophisticated instruments vs. currently available instruments 

    2. Detecting planets outside our solar system requires (which is higher)

    3. sophisticated instruments 

    This comparison makes the most sense to me. Would this work?

    4
  • Thursday, Mar 26

    can #3 be thought of in this way?

    1. nation that has retaliatory force vs nation that has a greater retaliatory force 

    2. which maintains maximum deterrence from aggression by other nations

    3. nation that has a greater retaliatory force 

    3
  • Tuesday, Mar 24

    I'm really struggling with when information should be included in the A v B vs when it should be included in the quality or characteristic being compared. Why was it Winter Months v The Months Before the Winter Months but not One Nation vs Any Other Nation? I'm really trying hard to get it, but I haven't landed on why or how I can tell yet.

    2
  • Monday, Mar 23

    I see what you did there for #5.

    2
  • Friday, Mar 20
    1. A v. B: more sophisticated instruments v. currently available instruments

      Quality - which is required for detecting planets outside our solar system?

      Winner - more sophisticated instruments

    Could this work?

    4
    Tuesday, Mar 24

    @Sunnieqw22 This is what I put, I don't know if it's right or not but I think since this is an inferred comparison it's okay if what you pull isn't precisely what the example pulls

    1
    Monday, Apr 6

    @Sunnieqw22 That's exactly what I did and this makes the most sense to me!

    2
  • Sunday, Mar 8

    #4 cooked me. This is what I put:

    Step 1: Detecting planets outside our solar system vs. detecting planets inside our solar system

    Step 2: Which one requires more sophisticated instruments than are currently available?

    Step 3: detecting planets outside our solar system

    I don't see how my answer is necessarily wrong. Question 2 in Comparative Skill Builder 1, where we had to imply the term "glacial", is what led me to imply "detecting planets inside our solar system" for this question. I hope that made sense

    2
    Saturday, May 2

    @Cee🦋 Hi :) I had the exact same thought process initially. After watching the video, I can see we are meant to focus on the information we have in the stimulus rather then inferring, such as: planets INSIDE our solar system... focus on the INSTRUMENTS. Not sure if that helps, I hope it did :)

    2
  • Wednesday, Mar 4

    Got 4/5! Q1 tripped me up. I couldn't tell whether the a vs b was the spaces or the times spent there

    1
  • Wednesday, Feb 11

    For question 4 I'm still confused on how the winner is not "more sophisticated instruments"

    3
    Monday, Feb 23

    @ryokace I think in a sense it is that. From my understanding I was thinking the same thing, but their answer appears to be more detailed. I think in understanding though, it is a similar idea. I think, don't quote me.

    2
    Monday, Mar 16

    @ryokace "more sophisticated instruments" vs instruments currently available implies that the instruments currently available are not "more" sophisticated to win the comparison. As long as you understand the argument and comparison being made and the winner, you are correct.

    1
  • Monday, Feb 9

    ahhh number 1 got to me. The previous skill builder comparative question that dealt with a implied comparison between "what they were accustom to" and the implied "now" made me think that the comparison for number 1 was of similar usage. I was thinking "previously" compared to "now" not realizing that the "previously" is reference to the "winter months" instead implying "the months before winter months."

    3
    Saturday, Feb 21

    @DouglasNeumeyer thank you for this explanation, I was confused as well

    2
  • Sunday, Feb 8

    my brain hurts after all of these skill builders

    12
  • Friday, Jan 30

    Is someone able to better explain 3 and 4? I have been doing so well with comparatives, but these have really confused me.

    5
  • Friday, Jan 16

    This is how I responded to number 3, which makes the most sense to me, but it is not the same as the answer: 

    1. retaliatory force equal or less than any other nation vs retaliatory force greater than any other nation

    2. which allows for maintaining maximum deterrence from aggression

    3. have a retaliatory force greater than any other nation

    4
    Wednesday, Feb 11

    @BarbWoodward I had the same issues with question 3 and 4 too and I got the winner right in both, but my wording was off a little. I've found my wording not as specific. Although I've still considered my answers correct, since I agree and understand the video explanation.

    0
  • Monday, Jan 12

    For questions 1, could the conclusion be...

    What's Being Compared:Time spent in public spaces in Winter months now vs time spent in public spaces during previous Winter months.

    How's it being compared: Which months did people spend longer periods of time in public spaces.

    Winner: Winter Months now

    2
    Saturday, Jan 24

    @ArmaniHunter05 this is how I interpreted it but I'm still not sure if its correct or not

    2
    Friday, Feb 6

    @ArmaniHunter05 I don't think so because question 1 doesn't have any indicator words to show its talking about the current winter months or winter months this year. "Previously" is vague and without that indicator word to tell us that were comparing current winter months and past winter months, the only other assumption we can make is during non winter months, people frequented those places for less and for less time

    2
  • Sunday, Jan 11

    Not sure if this will help anyone, but the way I like to think of these is as a "battle", and you have to determine "the competition", or who you are fighting against. For example in Q3:

    • It is our nation vs the other nations - therefore you have to find the subject and what it is being tested against. Here, our nation would be tested against others. Well, how will the nation do that?

    • Simply; with a retaliatory force greater than other nations.

    Not sure if this makes sense to others but I applied it to all the questions here, but the analogy works better when you talk about war and nation-states. Lol

    2
  • Wednesday, Jan 7

    For #3, why is "the winner" a retaliatory force maintained by one nation? I interpreted this statement as a hypothetical requirement for a nation or other nations to achieve maximum deterrence. I don't know that "a nation" has a greater force than other nations neccesarily.

    3
    Saturday, Jan 31

    @KP355 I think that the key is not getting so stuck in the literal content of the statement and rather just focusing on the mechanical formula of the quiz so that you can interpret it as they are arguing it, not yet evaluate its actual merit- the key is to understand their argument and what they are saying

    1
  • Wednesday, Jan 7

    murica vs shitty nation had me dying ngl

    5
    Sunday, Feb 15

    @ShantiJean-Louis 😬

    1
  • Monday, Dec 8, 2025

    I 100% understood question 3 but it was very difficult to word this comparison using the 3 step process. I had the same issue with number 4 but my interpretation of this comparison aligned more with the second comparison.

    9

Confirm action

Are you sure?