December 1991 Digital LR2 9 Why is this answer correct??

alyanna1235

An easy willingness to tell funny stories or jokes about oneself is the surest mark of supreme self-confidence. This willingness, often not acquired until late in life, is even more revealing than is good-natured acquiescence in having others poke fun at one.
Which one of the following inferences is most supported by the statements above?
A A person who lacks self-confidence will enjoy neither telling nor hearing funny stories about himself or herself.
B People with high self-confidence do not tell funny stories or jokes about others.
C Highly self-confident people tell funny stories and jokes in order to let their audience know that they are self-
confident.
D Most people would rather tell a funny story or a joke than listen to one being told.
E Telling funny stories or jokes about people in their presence is a way of expressing one's respect for them.

I can understand how A is correct in that it completes the pre-phrase "a person who exhibits confidence will enjoy telling and hearing funny stories about themselves". However, I got rid of A because I assumed that they are not discussing the correct group that was discussed in the stimulus. It's a pattern and common wrong answer choice l've seen in other question type, where they are discussing the wrong group in the answer choices to trap you. For example, if the stimulus discusses only the group in a survey who love cheese. Then the wrong answer choice will try to trick the test taker and talk about those who do not love cheese. And that is where you are supposed to catch that and say " the stimulus only talks about the group who do love cheese not those who do not, therefore not needed for the argument. I don't understand why that doesn't apply here? If I were to do a fact check test and use the stimulus to support the answer, nowhere does it discuss a person who lacks self confidence or what makes a person not confident" . It only talks about what makes a person confident, not what doesn't make them confident. So would it be fair when approaching future questions to assume that if they are talking about a different group it could still be correct?

jilliankirkland

https://forum.powerscore.com/viewtopic.php?f=702&t=3786

rhill19

A simple explanation of how my brain understood, accepted, and decided on the answer follows:
1st, the stimulus states that a person who is willing to make fun of their self in a humorous way is self-confident. 2nd, the stimulus points out that a person who allows others to make fun of them in a humorous manner is also confident, although maybe not as confident.

The stimulus gives us the equation for noticing self-confidence:

Making fun of yourself, or allowing others to make fun of you = self-confidence

The opposite, or negated, form of this equation is:

no self-confidence = not making fun of yourself, nor allowing others to make fun of you.

The negated form of the stimulus is precisely what answer choice (A) states. Since the question wants an answer that has the most support from the stimulus, the negation of the explicitly given equation is the perfect choice.