Better Left Unsaid SOLUTIONS

Nice Work!

Thank you for your responses to the Things Better Left Unsaid challenge. For the most part you recognized the problems that needed to be solved and, to differing degrees, you solved them. I’ve reviewed all your responses and collected the best solution below. If you don’t see examples of your own work, please take some time to figure out why.

(1) When the parents of a man or woman haven’t voted in their lifetimes, then their child is not as likely to vote than they would be if he or she had been brought up in a household where the parents always vote.

Best overall answers:
—Children of nonvoters are less likely to vote.
—People are less likely to vote when raised by parents that have never voted.
—Children whose parents do not vote are less likely to vote as well.
—Parents who have never voted are more likely to have children that refrain from voting.
—People with parents who always vote are more likely to vote themselves.

Professor’s Recommendation: Potential voters raised in non-voting households are less likely to vote.

(2) If your parents or the head of the household in which you were raised are voters, you are far more likely to vote.

Best overall answers:
—Kids will grow up to be voters if the parents are voters.
—People are more likely to vote when raised by parents that vote regularly.
—Children are far more likely to vote if their parents are voters.
—Those with parents who are voters are far more likely to vote.
—Parents pass down their habit of voting to their children.

Professor’s Recommendation: Potential voters raised by voters are much more likely to vote.

(3) As genetic testing has demonstrated many times, residents of death row often spend the rest of their lives there for crimes they may or may not have committed.

Best overall answers:
—Residents of death row often spend their lives in there for crimes genetic testing has proved they have not committed.

—Genetic testing has often demonstrated that residents of death row spend the rest of their lives there for crimes they did not commit.
—As genetic testing has demonstrated many times, residents of death row often spend the rest of their lives there for crimes they did not commit.
—Genetic testing has exonerated many death row inmates.
—As genetic testing has demonstrated many times, some residents of death row spend the rest of their lives there for crimes they have not committed.

Professor’s Recommendation: Genetic testing has proved that many death row inmates did not commit the crimes of which they were convicted.

(4) Harvard is considered to be as difficult to get into if not more difficult as Yale.

Best overall answers:
—Harvard is considered at least as difficult to get into as Yale.
—Harvard is considered to be as difficult to get into as Yale, if not more.
—Harvard is at least as difficult to get into as Yale.

Only three. The others all got it wrong.

Professor’s Recommendation: Harvard is considered at least as difficult to get into as Yale.

(5) Admissions officers are more likely to admit students who look like the majority of the student body even when they don’t appear to be prejudiced in other ways.

Best overall answers:
—Despite not appearing to be prejudiced in other ways, admissions officers are more likely to admit students who look like the rest of the student body.
—Admissions officers do not appear to be prejudiced but are more likely to admit students who look like the majority of the student body.
—Admissions officers don’t appear to be prejudiced, but they are more likely to admit students who look like the majority of the student body.
—Admissions officers who seem typically non-prejudiced tend to admit students who look like the majority of the student body.
—Admissions officers, who don’t appear to be prejudiced, are more likely to admit students who look like the majority of the student body.

Professor’s Recommendation: Even apparently impartial admissions officers admit mostly students who resemble the majority.

(6) The only kind of person who won’t buy this car is the kind that doesn’t understand that the car costs more to buy but that the savings in gas will make up for the higher cost in less than a year.

Best overall answers:
— The person who wouldn’t buy this car doesn’t understand that the savings in gas will make up for the higher cost of the car in less than a year.
—People who won’t buy this car are uninformed that the savings in gas will make up for the higher cost.
—One must understand that the amount of money saved in gas will outweigh the price of buying a new car.

—People who don’t buy this car do not understand that the savings in gas makes up for its’ higher price in less than a year.

Professor’s Recommendation: Any car shopper who understands that the gas savings on gas will make up for its higher price in less than a year will buy this car.

(7) There is a tendency among children who have suffered from being abused when they were young to be more likely to abuse their own children when they have them later in life.

Best overall answers:
—Parents who were abused as children are more likely to abuse their own children.
—Adults who suffered abuse as children are more likely to abuse their own children.
—Parents who were abused as children tend to abuse their own children.
—Abused children are more likely to abuse their own children later in life.

Professor’s Recommendation: Adults who were abused by their parents are more likely to abuse their children.

(8) By getting better mileage than cars that run on gasoline only, cars that can switch from gas to electric when conditions permit it have been created to help drivers save money.

Best overall answers:
—Cars that can switch from gas to electric when conditions permit have been created to help drivers save money.
—Cars that switch from gas to electric get better mileage and save drivers money.
—Cars that can switch from gas to electric when conditions permit save money with better mileage.
—Drivers who switch from gas to electric when permitted save more money.
—By getting better mileage than cars that run on gasoline only, cars that can switch from gas to electric help drivers save money.

Professor’s Recommendation: Money-saving hybrid cars switch from gas to electric to improve mileage when conditions permit.

(9) With their ability to run on gas or electricity depending on traffic conditions, drivers shopping for a new car have to decide between hybrids and cars with conventional engines.

Best overall answers:
— Car buyers can choose between cars with conventional engines or hybrids which run on both gas or electric depending on the traffic conditions.
—Drivers shopping for a new car have to decide between conventional engines and hybrids that run on gas or electricity depending on traffic conditions.
—Car shoppers have to decide between hybrids and cars with conventional engines depending on traffic conditions.

Professor’s Recommendation: Money-saving hybrid cars switch from gas to electric to improve mileage when conditions permit.

(10) Who wouldn’t prefer to drive a car that can switch from gasoline to electricity when conditions permit?

Best overall answers:
—There is nothing better than driving a car that can switch from gas to electricity when conditions permit.
—Driving a car that can switch from gasoline to electricity when conditions permit is the best decision.
—People should drive a car that can switch from gasoline to electricity.
—Drivers prefer cars that can switch from gasoline to electricity.
—There is no reason to dislike driving a car that can switch from gasoline to electricity when conditions permit.

Professor’s Recommendation: Obviously a car that can switch from gasoline to electricity when conditions to permit is preferable.

Professor’s Recommendation. Even better is a sentence that explains why: Obviously a car that can switch from gasoline to electricity when conditions to permit is cleaner and cheaper to operate.

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