Negation question

f_e_a_r_of_the_w_a_l_k_i_n_g_LSAT

Hey There is this question in one of the quizzes and we are supposed to negate it:

Drug-related crime is not as serious a problem for the city as the mayor claims it is.

I read it as “all” drug related crime is not as serious a problem for the city as the mayor claims it is.

So wouldn’t this be the negation: Some drug related crime is as serious as the mayor claims it is or more?

This is the answer that was written for the quiz:

It’s not the case that drug-related crime is not as serious of a problem for the city as the mayor claims it is.
Drug-related crime is just as serious of a problem for the city as the mayor claims it is, or it is more serious. (Which is the same thing as saying – some drug related crime is as serious of a problem for the city as the mayor claims it is)

Anyone?

keets993

That's an interesting question. I think the point of this question - which you totally understood - was negating the comparison. "Not as serious" into "just as serious or more serious."

While technically "some" could mean "all" I think this would be one of those context situations where we have to understand drug related crime as a whole as opposed to discussing at least one form of drug-related crime, like possession. Because what we are negating is not the quantity of a thing but the quality or a characteristic (seriousness) of a thing. We are denying this person's claim of the relationship that exists between drug-related crime and what the mayor claims. To suggest that, "some drug related crime is as serious, or more serious, of a problem for the city as the mayor claims it is" leaves open the possibility that there could be at least one form of drug related crime that is not a serious of a problem for the city as the mayor claims and leaving that possibility open would mean that we are not fully negating this statement.

Hope that helps!

f_e_a_r_of_the_w_a_l_k_i_n_g_LSAT

@keets993 said:
That's an interesting question. I think the point of this question - which you totally understood - was negating the comparison. "Not as serious" into "just as serious or more serious."

While technically "some" could mean "all" I think this would be one of those context situations where we have to understand drug related crime as a whole as opposed to discussing at least one form of drug-related crime, like possession. Because what we are negating is not the quantity of a thing but the quality or a characteristic (seriousness) of a thing. We are denying this person's claim of the relationship that exists between drug-related crime and what the mayor claims. To suggest that, "some drug related crime is as serious, or more serious, of a problem for the city as the mayor claims it is" leaves open the possibility that there could be at least one form of drug related crime that is not a serious of a problem for the city as the mayor claims and leaving that possibility open would mean that we are not fully negating this statement.

Hope that helps!

Hey! That helps so much, thanks a lot!