PT51.S1.Q11 - some statisticians believe

navacuenca92

Hey everyone!

I'm having trouble with this particular question. It is an MBT question, and while I was BR, I read it without translating and was able to pick the right answer correctly, mainly by the elimination method. I tried translating it nonetheless, and it actually confused me even more. I don't know if I translated it incorrectly, but it just seemed to me that the right answer (B) was kind of a subjective statement when it says "It fits more closely than". Could we actually reach that valid conclusion through translation? If so, how did would you translate it? Isn't that statement too wide? Has anyone faced the same problem regarding translation, in the sense that sometimes it is easier to find the answer without translating?

Any help is very appreciated!

https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-51-section-1-question-11/

Sami

Hey,

According to the stimulus:
EVT says life span is between 113 and 124 years.
The traditional method says its possible to live beyond 130 years.
Also, according to the stimulus, the highest observed human life span is 124 years.

Based on those three statements, between EVT and traditional method which one would you say fits more closely to the observed life span of 124 years?

The traditional method is off by 6 years while the actual life span pretty much falls within below what the EVT projects it to be.

So when answer choice B says EVT when compared to the traditional method EVT fits the data about the highest observed human life span, wouldn't you say that is supported?

navacuenca92

Hey!

Thanks for answering! Yes, I would definitely say it's supported. But aren't we facing an MBT question, and thus seeking validity and not just high level of support? That's what confuses me.

Would you translate that question? If so, how would you do it? The moment I read "Properly inferred" in the question stem I started translating. I ended up more confused, lost time and I just went ahead and read the question all over without translating and was able to get to the right answer. That's what worries me. According to the curriculum, MBT questions should be really easy since you should me able to translate the question quickly.

Thanks again for helping me out!

Sami

Hey,

I think I know where you are erring. It's not necessarily true that the new method EVT is just better overall or correct . But answer choice B narrows the focus of what we are talking about and it limits it to just which one of the two fits the data better. Also answer choice B is comparative in nature and therefore you can actually have an answer when you compare the two. For example, It would just be false to say that traditional method fits the data better when compared to EVT. Traditional method is off by 6 years and the observed life span falls within what EVT predicts it to be. So EVT does fit the data better making answer choice B correct. So because answer choice B is comparative in nature there is no way to conclude traditional method would fit the data more.

What I do when I see a MBT question stem is I try to see if I can force out an inference from the stimulus. But sometimes MBT questions can have inferences that based on the way the answer choice is written I didn't predict or are a restatement of a single sentence in the stimulus. So even if I have an inference from the statements in the stimulus, when I go through each answer choice I try to see if based on the information in the stimulus could I conclude this answer choice? That way anything I didn't quite infer from the stimulus, I am still able to get it by just having an open mind when I read each answer choice.

navacuenca92

Thank you so much @Sami, your advice really helped me out!