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CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
 29 Mar 2008, 14:34
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100% (02:24) wrong based on 0 sessions
Please don't forget your explanations
Twenty years ago the Republic of Rosinia produced nearly 100 million tons of potatoes, but last year the harvest barely reached 60 million tons. Agricultural researchers, who have failed to develop new higher yielding strains of potatoes, are to blame for this decrease, since they have been concerned only with their own research and not with the needs of Rosinia.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Any current attempts by agricultural researchers to develop higher-yielding potato strains are futile.
(B) Strains of potatoes most commonly grown in Rosinia could not have produced the yields last year that they once did.
(C) Agricultural researchers often find concrete solutions to practical problems when investigating seemingly unrelated questions.
(D) Wide fluctuations in the size of the potato crop over a twenty-year period are not unusual.
(E) Agricultural research in Rosinia is funded by government grants.
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
29 Mar 2008, 14:43
BAssumption: There is only one reason for bad yield last year - bad strains of potatoes. (B) Strains of potatoes most commonly grown in Rosinia could not have produced the yields last year that they once did.
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
29 Mar 2008, 14:49
I don't get it. I thought C was the answer.
My understanding is this;
Agricultural researchers, who have failed to develop new higher yielding strains of potatoes, are to blame for this decrease, since they have been concerned only with their own research and not with the needs of Rosinia. Agricultural researchers are to blame for this because they have been occupied with something else.
hence the assumption Agricultural researchers often find concrete solutions to practical problems when investigating seemingly unrelated questions. Meaning they are able to find solutions to the problem.
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
30 Mar 2008, 01:40
Vavali wrote: I don't get it. I thought C was the answer.
My understanding is this;
Agricultural researchers, who have [color=#4000FF]failed to develop new higher yielding strains of potatoes, are to blame for this decrease, since they have been concerned only with their own research and not with the needs of Rosinia. [/color] Agricultural researchers are to blame for this because they have been occupied with something else.
hence the assumption Agricultural researchers often find concrete solutions to practical problems when investigating seemingly unrelated questions. Meaning they are able to find solutions to the problem. Vavali, The FALURE of researchers to develop new higher yieling strains of potatoes decreased the VOLUME of potatoes (from 100 to 60) Can you make a comparation with B? you will find clearly B is assumption! If not clear, let me know!
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
30 Mar 2008, 09:27
sondenso wrote: Vavali wrote: I don't get it. I thought C was the answer.
My understanding is this;
Agricultural researchers, who have [color=#4000FF]failed to develop new higher yielding strains of potatoes, are to blame for this decrease, since they have been concerned only with their own research and not with the needs of Rosinia. [/color] Agricultural researchers are to blame for this because they have been occupied with something else.
hence the assumption Agricultural researchers often find concrete solutions to practical problems when investigating seemingly unrelated questions. Meaning they are able to find solutions to the problem. Vavali, The FALURE of researchers to develop new higher yieling strains of potatoes decreased the VOLUME of potatoes (from 100 to 60) Can you make a comparation with B? you will find clearly B is assumption! If not clear, let me know! Sondenso I'm still not clear. The argument blames their failure to produce higher yielding crops as the reason. Therefore the assumption is they have the ability to resolve this. Sorry I'm just struggling to see why B is the case.
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
30 Mar 2008, 09:51
I try to extend my logic for B. One of the way to check an assumption is to use the denial test. First, paraphrase the argument to make it more concise: The argument: There is a decrease in crop of potatoes. Agricultural researchers is blamed, because they failed to create new strains. Deny B: there is another reason of the decrease. For example, the farmers used 40% less land last year to raise potatoes than usual, because they changed their main crop from potatoes to rape. Now, It becomes obvious that the agricultural researchers are not responsible for the decrease. Therefore, the argument is destroyed. in turn, B is an assumption. Hope this help 
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
30 Mar 2008, 12:02
Vavali wrote: Please don't forget your explanations
Twenty years ago the Republic of Rosinia produced nearly 100 million tons of potatoes, but last year the harvest barely reached 60 million tons. Agricultural researchers, who have failed to develop new higher yielding strains of potatoes, are to blame for this decrease, since they have been concerned only with their own research and not with the needs of Rosinia.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Any current attempts by agricultural researchers to develop higher-yielding potato strains are futile.
(B) Strains of potatoes most commonly grown in Rosinia could not have produced the yields last year that they once did.
(C) Agricultural researchers often find concrete solutions to practical problems when investigating seemingly unrelated questions.
(D) Wide fluctuations in the size of the potato crop over a twenty-year period are not unusual.
(E) Agricultural research in Rosinia is funded by government grants. I ended with B. A is not because the passage said agricultural researchers did not put their effort on to develop higher-yielding potato strains. B is because the potato production is decreasing and the country is farming the common strains of potato. therefore, no increase in out put. if researchers were able to find new strain of potato that were high yeilding, the problem would not arrise. therefore B is assumed. C is not assumed. if it were true, researchers would have been able to find high-yeild strains of potato even if they were not putting their efforts doing so. D is also not assumed. if it were true, then researchers are not to be blamed. E it could be or not. Government grants do not have anything to do with the decreased yield of patoto.
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
31 Mar 2008, 00:14
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B is the correct one.
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
31 Mar 2008, 01:27
[quote="Vavali"]Sondenso I'm still not clear. The argument blames their failure to produce higher yielding crops as the reason. Therefore the assumption is they have the ability to resolve this. Yes, they do have ability to..but they did not develop new higher yieling type of potato.  Vavali, you can be advised by reading the reasoning of Walker. And Btw, sometimes Assumption question acts as Support question. It means that it helps argument not be weakened from attack. The agument above has a causality. So, you should pay attention to the relationship btw cause and effect in order to strengthen the argument. In this case, if you strengthen successfully argument, you choose the correct Assumption answer choice. Cause ---> effect ( FAILURE to develope new...type of potatoes ---> VOLUME of harvest decreased) You can rephrase the cause in many ways as long as you do not change the meaning of the cause and confirm that there is not any other cause rather than the one the author mention. It is the only one cause of that effect. Can you rephrase B the same meaning as "not new higher yeiling type of potatoes"?
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
31 Mar 2008, 05:41
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thankssssssssss walker and sondenso.....i was thinking the same way as vavali.....my exam is on coming friday.....and today only came to know abt the denial test!!!thanks walker!!!Thanks a lot!!!(often used to hear....apply denial test.....now its clear!!!)
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
31 Mar 2008, 06:37
Thanks guys, I've just had my Eureka moment  it's much clearer now. The mistake I made was I confused the conclusion to be the evidence. The conclusion I guess is Potato productions has fallen and the reason why is because farmers have been preoccupied with other things. So the assumption here is that Strains of potatoes grown in Rosnia could not have produced the yields last year that it once did. Thanks again!
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
31 Mar 2008, 07:02
suyashjhawar wrote: thankssssssssss walker and sondenso.....i was thinking the same way as vavali.....my exam is on coming friday.....and today only came to know abt the denial test!!!thanks walker!!!Thanks a lot!!!(often used to hear....apply denial test.....now its clear!!!) Good luck for Friday  . We're all behind you. DOn't forget to let us know how it goes!
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
31 Mar 2008, 13:12
Why wouldn't (D) work?
If wide fluctuation of harvest is normal, then the researchers are not to be blamed.
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
31 Mar 2008, 21:19
suyashjhawar wrote: .....my exam is on coming friday Good luck! zhenmaster wrote: If wide fluctuation of harvest is normal, then the researchers are not to be blamed You said above you mean that there is another factor responsible for the VOLUME decreased. You do not agree with author of the argument that only the cause "failure to develop..." decreased the VOLUME. So, you are weakening the argument, not strengthening it. In this case, strengthen is the same as assumption. Hope it help!
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Re: CR Twenty years ago. [#permalink]
31 Mar 2008, 21:42
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One more B. Very well explained by Walker and Sondenso
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Re: CR Twenty years ago.
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31 Mar 2008, 21:42
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