Self-study
Editor: Most of the books of fiction we have published were submitted by literary agents for writers they represented; the rest were received directly from fiction writers from whom we requested submissions. ██ ██████████ ██████████ ███ ████ █████ ███████ ██████████ ███ █████ ████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ █ ████████ ██████ ██ ██ ███ █████████ ███ ██████████ █████ ███████ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ████ █████████
Summary
If a fiction book was published → submitted by a literary agent OR received directly by request.
If a nonfiction book has been given serious attention (or published) → from a renowned figure OR requested after review of book proposal.
Very Strongly Supported Conclusions
There’s no obvious conclusion to draw from the stimulus. Just keep in mind that we have one rule for what must be true if a fiction book was published, and we have another rule for what must be true if a nonfiction book was given serious attention or published.
21.
Which one of the following ███ ██ ████████ ████████ ████ ███ ████████ ███████████
a
Most unrequested manuscripts ████ ███ ██████████ █████ ████████ ███ ███ █████ ███████ ██████████
Not supported, because most unrequested manuscripts might be from a renowned figure. Or, they might also be fiction manuscripts submitted by literary agents. This is why most unrequested manuscripts still might be given serious attention.
b
Most of the █████ ████ ███ ██████████ █████ █████████ ████ ███ ███ ██ ████████ ███████ ███ █████ ██ ████████
We don’t know the proportion of books that are fiction among non-renowned authors. It’s possible that every book by a non-renowned author is a nonfiction one (that was published after review of the book proposal).
c
If a manuscript ███ ████████ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██████ ████ ██ ██ ██████ █ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██ █ ████████ ███████
Not supported, because a manuscript that gets careful attention could be a nonfiction one that was requested after careful review of the book proposal.
d
The publishing house ██ ████ ██████ ██ ████ ███████ █████████████ ██ █ ██████████ ████ ███ █████████ ████████ ██ █ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ███ █████████ ██ █ ████████ ████████ ██████
We don’t know anything about the comparative likelihood of giving careful consideration. Notice that the rule about fiction books doesn’t say anything about careful consideration.
e
Any unrequested manuscripts ███ █████████ ██ ████████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████████ █████ ███ █████████ ████ ███████ ██ ████████ ████████
Supported. If a manuscript is unrequested, and not submitted by a literary agent, then it can’t be a book of fiction. So, it must be a nonfiction book. And if it’s a nonfiction book that’s published, if it’s not requested, then it must be from a renowned figure.