Residents of an apartment complex are considering two possible plans for collecting recyclable trash. Plan 1-Residents will deposit recyclable trash in municipal dumpsters located in the parking lot. The trash will be collected on the first and the fifteenth days of each month. Plan 2-Residents will be given individual containers for recyclable trash. The containers will be placed at the curb twice a week for trash collection. Which of the following points raised at a meeting of the residents, if valid, would most favor one of the recycling plans over the other?
(A) Residents will be required to exercise care in separating recyclable trash from nonrecyclable trash. (B) For trash recycling to be successful, residents must separate recyclable bottles and cans from recyclable paper products. (C) Penalties will be levied against residents who fail to sort their trash correctly. (D) Individual recycling containers will need to be made of a strong and durable material. (E) Recyclable trash that is allowed to accumulate for two weeks will attract rodents
(E) Recyclable trash that is allowed to accumulate for two weeks will attract rodents is it?
Police officers in Smith County who receive Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) training spend considerable time in weapons instruction and practice. This time spent developing expertise in the use of guns affects the instincts of Smith County officers, making them too reliant on firearms. In the past year in Smith County, in 12 of the 14 cases in which police officers shot suspects while attempting to make an arrest, the officer involved had received SWAT training, although only 5 percent of the police force as a whole in the county had received such training.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above? a) In an adjacent county, all of the cases in which police shot suspects involved officers with SWAT training.
b) SWAT training stresses the need for surprise, speed, and aggression when approaching suspects.
c) Only 15 percent of Smith Countys SWAT training course is devoted to firearms lessons.
d) Among officers involved in the arrest of suspects in Smith County in the past year, the proportion who had received SWAT training was similar to the proportion who had received SWAT training in the police force as a whole.
e) Some Smith County officers without SWAT training have not been on a firing range in years.
i think its d) Among officers involved in the arrest of suspects in Smith County in the past year,the proportion who had received SWAT training was similar to the proportion who had received SWAT training in the police force as a whole.
When hypnotized subjects are told that they are deaf and are then asked whether they can hear the hypnotist, they reply, "No." Some theorists try to explain this result by arguing that the selves of hypnotized subjects are dissociated into separate parts, and that the part that is deaf is dissociated from the part that replies. Which of the following challenges indicates the most serious weakness in the attempted explanation described above? (A) Why does the part that replies not answer, "Yes"? (B) Why are the observed facts in need of any special explanation? (C) Why do the subjects appear to accept the hypnotist's suggestion that they are deaf? (D) Why do hypnotized subjects all respond the same way in the situation described? (E) Why are the separate parts of the self the same for all subjects?
OA is highlighted.
Official Explanation: Since the question elicits a reply, the question was presumably heard, but presumably not by the part that is deaf. The explanation's obvious weakness, therefore, is that it fails to indicate why the part that replies would reply as if it were the part that is deaf. Choice A points to this failure and is the best answer. Choice B does not challenge the explanation itself, but the need for an explanation in the first place. Choices C and D raise pertinent questions concerning the facts described, but do not address the proffered explanation of those facts. Choice E points to a question to which the attempted explanation gives rise to, but does not challenge the adequacy of the explanation.
Some species of Arctic birds are threatened by recent sharp increases in the population of snow geese, which breed in the Arctic and are displacing birds of less vigorous species. Although snow geese are a popular quarry for hunters in the southern regions where they winter, the hunting season ends if and when hunting has reduced the population by five percent, according to official estimates. Clearly, dropping this restriction would allow the other species to recover.
My take:
option B) It has been many years since the restriction led to the hunting season for snow geese being closed earlier than the scheduled date.
OA for my previous Q is B Increasingly, American businesses requiring customer service phone lines have been utilizing overseas companies that can provide these services at extremely reduced rates. Toll-free calls are routed to countries like India, where low-paid workers have been trained to deal with most of the typical problems consumers have with their credit cards, online services, and computer equipment. Since the companies using these overseas call centers are saving so much money, they will undoubtedly show higher profits than companies that do not. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument? (A) There is strong competition among overseas call centers to provide the most comprehensive services at the lowest rates. (B) Consumers opposed to exporting American jobs are willing to pay more for goods and services from companies that dont engage in this practice. (C) Certain banking services cannot be outsourced, since this would require the release of customer financial data. (D) Because offshore telephone customer service companies provide only these services, they can train their employees more thoroughly than American companies could. (E) Some American companies send their own employees overseas to train the call center personnel in their particular business.
The wild mouflon sheep of the island of Corsica are direct descendants of sheep that escaped from domestication on the island 8,000 years ago. They therefore provide archaeologists with a picture of what some early domesticated sheep looked like, before the deliberate selective breeding that produced modern domesticated sheep began. The argument above makes which of the following assumptions? (A) The domesticated sheep of 8,000 years ago were quite dissimilar from the wild sheep of the time. (B) There are no other existing breeds of sheep that escaped from domestication at about the same time as the forebears of the mouflon. (C) Modern domesticated sheep are direct descendants of sheep that were wild 8,000 years ago. (D) Mouflon sheep are more similar to their forebears of 8,000 years ago than modern domesticated sheep are to theirs. (E) The climate of Corsica has not changed at all in the last 8,000 years.
Community activist: If Morganville wants to keep its central shopping district healthy, it should prevent the opening of a huge SaveAll discount department store on the outskirts of Morganville. Records from other small towns show that whenever SaveAll has opened a store outside the central shopping district of a small town, within five years the town has experienced the bankruptcies of more than a quarter of the stores in the shopping district.
My take:
Option C) In towns with healthy central shopping districts, what proportion of the stores in those districts suffer bankruptcy during a typical five-year period?
As far as we know, Earth is the only planet on which life has evolved, and all known life forms are carbon-based. Therefore, although there might exist noncarbon-based life on planets very unlike Earth, our scientific estimates of the probability of extraterrestrial life should be generated from estimates of the number of planets like Earth and the likelihood of carbon-based life on those planets. Which one of the following general principles most strongly supports the recommendation?
My take:
option E) Estimations of probability that are more closely tied to what is known are preferable to those that are less closely tied to what is known.
Political Commentator: During the previous presidential administration, members of congress approved large tax cuts and yet the economy today stands in shambles. During the current economic crisis, those who espouse large tax cuts as an economic stimulus should consider the failure of tax cuts during the past eight years to prevent the current economic recession as conclusive evidence that tax cuts will not help the country escape from its current economic troubles. Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument above?
option A) The large tax cuts of the past administration targeted the capital gains on the financial investments of the ultra-rich while proponents of tax cuts today suggest cutting payroll taxes for both employers and employees.
Political Commentator: During the previous presidential administration, members of congress approved large tax cuts and yet the economy today stands in shambles. During the current economic crisis, those who espouse large tax cuts as an economic stimulus should consider the failure of tax cuts during the past eight years to prevent the current economic recession as conclusive evidence that tax cuts will not help the country escape from its current economic troubles. Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument above?
( C) Economists from across the spectrum predict that if Congress fails to pass the tax-cut legislation, which also includes government spending and much more, it could well be 15 years before the economy escapes the current recession. OAs are in bold!!
Saar, Can you please give the reasoning for the above question..... coz I eliminated C first as I thought that... in option C ,the legislation is considered as the only tool to be effective against recession.. Even in that legislation things are not clear.. Is it either tax-cuts or government spending which will help in escaping current recession...
hi cognizant_81, been watching your thread since long time. The 'thanks' button is not sufficient to express my gratitude for your hard work of regularly updating this thread. Thanks a lot for this.
Reading skills among high school students in Gotham have been steadily declining, which can only be the result of overcrowding in the schools.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument expressed above?
a) The high school system in Gotham succeeds in giving students a good education at considerably less cost than do most systems. b) Several cities have found that overcrowding in the schools is not always associated with lower reading scores. c) Gotham schools have a greater teacher-to-student ratio than most other school systems. d) Students' reading skills have not declined in other cities where the high schools are just as crowded as those of Gotham. e) Schools are not overcrowded in many cities where high school reading scores have declined more than they have in Gotham
Option E) states, thatovercrowding is NOT the ONLY cause of the given effect here. And that there exists a different cause as well.
Option D) was also very close. Very craftly placed just before the right option.
Reading skills among high school students in Gotham have been steadily declining, which can only be the result of overcrowding in the schools.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument expressed above?
a) The high school system in Gotham succeeds in giving students a good education at considerably less cost than do most systems. b) Several cities have found that overcrowding in the schools is not always associated with lower reading scores. c) Gotham schools have a greater teacher-to-student ratio than most other school systems. d) Students' reading skills have not declined in other cities where the high schools are just as crowded as those of Gotham. e) Schools are not overcrowded in many cities where high school reading scores have declined more than they have in Gotham
my take :c) Gotham schools have a greater teacher-to-student ratio than most other school systems.
reasoning : overcrowding implies lower teacher-to-student ration...which Opt C challenges,ergo the ans. (also note 'ONLY')
Option E) states, thatovercrowding is NOT the ONLY cause of the given effect here. And that there exists a different cause as well.
Option D) was also very close. Very craftly placed just before the right option.
Tricky one.
hi there...though ur explanation is quite compelling i still cannot figure out a way to eliminate D. D also provides a possibility of alternate explanation of low reading scores.
Reading skills among high school students in Gotham have been steadily declining, which can only be the result of overcrowding in the schools.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument expressed above?
a) The high school system in Gotham succeeds in giving students a good education at considerably less cost than do most systems. b) Several cities have found that overcrowding in the schools is not always associated with lower reading scores. c) Gotham schools have a greater teacher-to-student ratio than most other school systems. d) Students' reading skills have not declined in other cities where the high schools are just as crowded as those of Gotham. e) Schools are not overcrowded in many cities where high school reading scores have declined more than they have in Gotham
hi there...though ur explanation is quite compelling i still cannot figure out a way to eliminate D. D also provides a possibility of alternate explanation of low reading scores.
Kindly help
Hi,
The argument states a causal relationship. X->Y Cause (X): Overcrowding in schools. Effect (Y) -> Decline in reading skills.
The usual approach to weakening casual relation type arguments is to suggest any of following: 1. X occurs, but Y does not occur. 2. Y occurred, without X having occurred.
In this question. Option D) is of TYPE 1 Option E) is of TYPE 2
So we have both possible weakeners. But what really makes this question a little different, is the argument statement which if u read carefully, argues that ONLY X can make Y HAPPEN.
Option D) says: X occurred, Y did not occur. The question stimulus does not state that Y always occurs when X occurs. It only says that whenever Y occurs, its only because of X. So, we still dont know if there is any other cause 'Z' that makes Y happen. (The non existence of which, is the real argument of the author)
Option E) This option eliminates that doubt by saying that yes, there is another cause 'Z' that makes Y happen, by giving an instance where Y occurred without X.
I hope i was clear.
PS: There are other weakener types to Causal relation type questions, such as: Suggesting an alternative cause, or bringing out statistical error in argument. But our given question is not concerned with those.
The argument states a causal relationship. X->Y Cause (X): Overcrowding in schools. Effect (Y) -> Decline in reading skills.
The usual approach to weakening casual relation type arguments is to suggest any of following: 1. X occurs, but Y does not occur. 2. Y occurred, without X having occurred.
In this question. Option D) is of TYPE 1 Option E) is of TYPE 2
So we have both possible weakeners. But what really makes this question a little different, is the argument statement which if u read carefully, argues that ONLY X can make Y HAPPEN.
Option D) says: X occurred, Y did not occur. The question stimulus does not state that Y always occurs when X occurs. May be Y occurs sometimes, on occurrence of X, but X still being the only cause. So with this, we still dont know if there is any other cause 'Z' that makes Y happen. (The non existence of which, is the real argument of the author)
Option E) This option eliminates that doubt by saying that yes, there is another cause 'Z' that makes Y happen, by giving an instance where Y occurred without X.
I hope i was clear.
PS: There are other weakener types to Causal relation type questions, such as: Suggesting an alternative cause, or bringing out statistical error in argument. But our given question is not concerned with those.
Reading skills among high school students in Gotham have been steadily declining, which can only be the result of overcrowding in the schools.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument expressed above?
a) The high school system in Gotham succeeds in giving students a good education at considerably less cost than do most systems. b) Several cities have found that overcrowding in the schools is not always associated with lower reading scores. c) Gotham schools have a greater teacher-to-student ratio than most other school systems. d) Students' reading skills have not declined in other cities where the high schools are just as crowded as those of Gotham. e) Schools are not overcrowded in many cities where high school reading scores have declined more than they have in Gotham
Adding to Angad's explanation, D is also wrong because it veers away from the stimulus in very subtle ways, notice how the stimulus says "Reading skills among high school students", but D changes it to "Students' reading skills(in general, not specifically high school students)". Again the stimulus states "result of overcrowding in the schools", but D has changed it to "the high schools are just as crowded". Very subtle but obvious differentiators !!
This is my first post in this thread. I took GMAT Prep a few days ago a while reviewing the questions got stumped by two CR ques. I am posting them as below. Pls provie the answer and explain the solution
A)Environmentalist: Snowmobiles in the park of north Milville create unacceptable levels of air pollution and should be banned. Milville Business Spokesperson: Snowmobiling brings many out-of-towners to Milville in the winter months, to the great direct financial benefit of many local residents. In addition, the money that the town collects in fees for recreational use of park indirectly benefits all Milville residesnts. So, it is basic economics for us to put up with pollution. Which of the following, if true, could best be used by the environmentalist to counter the business spokespersons argument?
A great many cross-country skiers are now kept from visiting Milville by the noise and pollution that snowmobiles generate.
Not all of the people who go snowmobiling in the vicinity of Millville are from out of town.
Snowmobiles, because they run on two cycle engines, emit greater amount of hydrocarbons an particulate matter than most cars do
Industrial pollution in Milville has been significantly reduced in the past few years without any adverse effect on the towns economy
Many Milville residents object to having to pay fees for recreational use of the park in the winter
B) Which of the following most logically completes the argument below? Twenty percent of the stores in Morganville downtown shopping district will fail within five years because they will be competing directly with the Save Mart discount store newly opened in East Morganville. The downtown shopping district has lost business at this rate before and has completely rebounded. Confidence that it will completely rebound again from its losses it is now about to suffer is ill founded, however, because _____________
the stores likely to be put out of business by direct competition from Save Mart are the downtown shopping districts anchor stores, on whose ability to draw shoppers many of the other downtown stores depend.
the bus line that has long connected the downtown area of Morganville with East Morganville has a tradition of carrying shoppers who reside in East Morganville into downtown Morganville to shop.
when the downtown shopping district has rebounded before, the business premises of the failed business were typically taken over by the business of same kind as had been there before
Save Marts business plan for the East Morganville store is based on earning low profits, if any, during the first five years of stores existence
It is conceivable that the downtown shopping district could shrink substantially without collapsing altogether.
This is my first post in this thread. I took GMAT Prep a few days ago a while reviewing the questions got stumped by two CR ques. I am posting them as below. Pls provie the answer and explain the solution
A)Environmentalist: Snowmobiles in the park of north Milville create unacceptable levels of air pollution and should be banned. Milville Business Spokesperson: Snowmobiling brings many out-of-towners to Milville in the winter months, to the great direct financial benefit of many local residents. In addition, the money that the town collects in fees for recreational use of park indirectly benefits all Milville residesnts. So, it is basic economics for us to put up with pollution. Which of the following, if true, could best be used by the environmentalist to counter the business spokesperson's argument?
A great many cross-country skiers are now kept from visiting Milville by the noise and pollution that snowmobiles generate.
Not all of the people who go snowmobiling in the vicinity of Millville are from out of town.
Snowmobiles, because they run on two cycle engines, emit greater amount of hydrocarbons an particulate matter than most cars do
Industrial pollution in Milville has been significantly reduced in the past few years without any adverse effect on the towns economy
Many Milville residents object to having to pay fees for recreational use of the park in the winter
B) Which of the following most logically completes the argument below? Twenty percent of the stores in Morganville downtown shopping district will fail within five years because they will be competing directly with the Save Mart discount store newly opened in East Morganville. The downtown shopping district has lost business at this rate before and has completely rebounded. Confidence that it will completely rebound again from its losses it is now about to suffer is ill founded, however, because _____________
the stores likely to be put out of business by direct competition from Save Mart are the downtown shopping districts anchor stores, on whose ability to draw shoppers many of the other downtown stores depend.
the bus line that has long connected the downtown area of Morganville with East Morganville has a tradition of carrying shoppers who reside in East Morganville into downtown Morganville to shop.
when the downtown shopping district has rebounded before, the business premises of the failed business were typically taken over by the business of same kind as had been there before
Save Mart's business plan for the East Morganville store is based on earning low profits, if any, during the first five years of store's existence
It is conceivable that the downtown shopping district could shrink substantially without collapsing altogether.
Thanks
First one, I would go with 1.
A great many cross-country skiers are now kept from visiting Milville by the noise and pollution that snowmobiles generate.
If the skiers start to come to the town due to less pollution, they will most probably balance the loss of money into the city, which was caused by closing the snowmobiles, if not all of it, then at least most of it !
For the Second One, I would go with 1
the stores likely to be put out of business by direct competition from Save Mart are the downtown shopping districts anchor stores, on whose ability to draw shoppers many of the other downtown stores depend.
We need to find the reason why the downtown district will not be able to rebound from this crisis. If this statement (1) were to be true, then all the other shops will also get affected, since the anchor shops provide the smaller shops most of the consumers, so the whole district will get affected and will never be able to recover from this loss !
