Whose Reasoning Is Correct?

This question type has a fixed shape: a BOX states a rule you must accept as true, two speakers each draw a conclusion from it, and you decide whose reasoning is correct — first only, second only, both, or neither. The golden habit: judge each speaker SEPARATELY. Read the box, then Ola's sentence: does the rule really force her conclusion? Then Raf's, fresh. They are two independent mini-puzzles — one being right tells you nothing about the other. All four answer combinations appear in real tests, including 'both' and 'neither'.

'Only' is the trickiest word in the whole test. 'Only students who attend the briefing may go' means: no briefing → definitely no camp. It does NOT mean: attended → definitely goes. Think of a ticket: 'only ticket-holders may enter' — no ticket, no entry; but holding a ticket doesn't guarantee entry (the show might be full). So with this rule, Ola ('Kian attends, so he'll DEFINITELY go') reasons wrongly — attending only keeps the door open. Raf ('Tess is at cricket, so she can't go') reasons correctly — missing the briefing slams the door. Answer: Raf only.

Harder boxes have two parts, and speakers chain them. Example: 'A siren means a real emergency or a practice drill; drills always happen on Fridays at 11 am.' Rafi: 'A Monday siren must be a real emergency' — Monday isn't Friday, so drill is crossed out; only emergency remains. Correct. Suki: 'No siren doesn't mean there's no emergency' — the box never promises every emergency sets off the siren. Also correct. Answer: both. The method: write the possibilities the box allows, cross out what the speaker's situation forbids, and check whether ONLY their conclusion survives. If something else survives too, they said 'must' when it was only 'might'.

Some boxes are facts about things rather than if-then rules — the same care applies. Example: the box says a tawny frogmouth's egg is white and never longer than 5 cm. Nell: 'this egg is white and a decent size, so it MUST be a frogmouth's' — wrong: the box never says only frogmouths lay white eggs; another bird's could match. Ari: 'it's only 4 cm, so it CAN'T be a frogmouth's' — wrong: 'up to 5 cm' is a maximum, so 4 cm is perfectly possible. Answer: neither. Watch for 'up to', 'at least', 'can be' — they describe ranges and possibilities, not exact requirements.

Your judge routine: accept the box completely (it's the law of the question); try speaker 1 alone; try speaker 2 alone, fresh. The killer tool is the ESCAPE-ROUTE trick: whenever a speaker says 'must', 'definitely' or 'can't', try to invent one story that obeys the box but breaks their conclusion. If you find even one escape route, they're wrong. If every road the box allows leads to their conclusion, they're right. That single trick decides nearly every two-speaker question in the test. Quiz and exercises!