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In recent decades, the vast majority of construction [#permalink]
 10 Jul 2012, 11:46
Question Stats:
66% (02:10) correct
33% (01:22) wrong based on 2 sessions
In recent decades, the vast majority of construction companies have halted the use of asbestos for installation. During this same time period, word began to spread through various news media that long-term exposure to asbestos was causally linked to mesothelioma and other serious lung diseases. Therefore, the home building companies must have halted the use of asbestos in response to the new publicity given to its possible negative health consequences. Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the explanation above? A: On average, fewer people are having homes built using asbestos insulation than in decades past. B: People living in homes built with asbestos insulation may continue to experience health problems after the asbestos has been removed. C: The use of asbestos insulation in industrial buildings has remained fairly constant, while its use in residences has sharply declined. D: Sales of alternative insulation materials such as fiberglass have increased in recent decades. E: Many alternative insulation materials that were previously prohibitively expensive have dropped considerably in price in recent decades.
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Re: CR Weaken Argument - Asbestos [#permalink]
10 Jul 2012, 13:23
soaringAlone wrote: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction companies have halted the use of asbestos for installation. During this same time period, word began to spread through various news media that long-term exposure to asbestos was causally linked to mesothelioma and other serious lung diseases. Therefore, the home building companies must have halted the use of asbestos in response to the new publicity given to its possible negative health consequences.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the explanation above?
A: On average, fewer people are having homes built using asbestos insulation than in decades past.
B: People living in homes built with asbestos insulation may continue to experience health problems after the asbestos has been removed.
C: The use of asbestos insulation in industrial buildings has remained fairly constant, while its use in residences has sharply declined.
D: Sales of alternative insulation materials such as fiberglass have increased in recent decades.
E: Many alternative insulation materials that were previously prohibitively expensive have dropped considerably in price in recent decades. The language "calls into question" in the question stem tells us that this is a Weaken question. We're trying to undermine the argument, and the way we do that is by attacking the arguments assumption. Now, in many cases, there's a few steps to get to the argument's assumption--we'd spot the conclusion, find the evidence used by the author to back up that conclusion, and then look for shifts in scope and changes in terminology. But here, we don't need to do any of that! This is a classic GMAT argument structure: causality. The author is arguing that because asbestos publicity and asbestos disuse occurred around the same time, that negative publicity must be the cause for asbestos falling out of favor. Whenever the author concludes that X leads to why, the author's assumption is very simple: "There is no better or alternative explanation." So, we want to weaken that assumption. Which answer choice provides an alternate explanation? Which answer choice suggests that there is an alternate reason for asbestos to fall out of construction companies' favor? That's (E)--there's a cheaper alternative to asbestos available now! And since that matches our prediction perfectly, that's the answer. Hope this helps!
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Re: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction [#permalink]
29 Jul 2012, 14:17
Hi there .. What makes option E better than option B.
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Re: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction [#permalink]
29 Jul 2012, 22:23
why is option d incorrect even this option gives alomost similar reasoning as option e.
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Re: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction [#permalink]
30 Jul 2012, 00:08
Ankit04041987 wrote: why is option d incorrect even this option gives alomost similar reasoning as option e. D: Sales of alternative insulation materials such as fiberglass have increased in recent decades. The building companies require cheaper material for construction, when the cost of alternative insulation materials is increasing then why would the builders use the costly products. E: Many alternative insulation materials that were previously prohibitively expensive have dropped considerably in price in recent decades. Builders tried insulation materials other than asbestos before but they found it costly (it can be inferred from this line "....... that were previously prohibitively expensive...."so they used asbestos , but now the costs is less then they moved from asbestos to other alternative materials. Hope this helps !
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Re: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction [#permalink]
30 Jul 2012, 03:50
A: On average, fewer people are having homes built using asbestos insulation than in decades past. - There must be a reason why people have stopped using asbestos. Neutral Stand - Incorrect
B: People living in homes built with asbestos insulation may continue to experience health problems after the asbestos has been removed. - Irrelevant - Incorrect
C: The use of asbestos insulation in industrial buildings has remained fairly constant, while its use in residences has sharply declined. - No proper link can be established between the media coverage and asbestos usage - Incorrect
D: Sales of alternative insulation materials such as fiberglass have increased in recent decades. - In such a case, the usage of asbestos must have increased - Incorrect
E: Many alternative insulation materials that were previously prohibitively expensive have dropped considerably in price in recent decades. - Over the years, the alternate insulation material, which were used, prices have come down significantly - Correct
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Re: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction [#permalink]
30 Jul 2012, 07:07
sidhu09 wrote: A: On average, fewer people are having homes built using asbestos insulation than in decades past. - There must be a reason why people have stopped using asbestos. Neutral Stand - Incorrect
B: People living in homes built with asbestos insulation may continue to experience health problems after the asbestos has been removed. - Irrelevant - Incorrect
C: The use of asbestos insulation in industrial buildings has remained fairly constant, while its use in residences has sharply declined. - No proper link can be established between the media coverage and asbestos usage - Incorrect
D: Sales of alternative insulation materials such as fiberglass have increased in recent decades. - In such a case, the usage of asbestos must have increased - Incorrect
E: Many alternative insulation materials that were previously prohibitively expensive have dropped considerably in price in recent decades. - Over the years, the alternate insulation material, which were used, prices have come down significantly - Correct Hi . if the usage of alternative materials has increased . I would expect the usage of asbestos to come down . Not increase.
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Re: CR Weaken Argument - Asbestos [#permalink]
13 Sep 2012, 11:13
KapTeacherEli wrote: soaringAlone wrote: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction companies have halted the use of asbestos for installation. During this same time period, word began to spread through various news media that long-term exposure to asbestos was causally linked to mesothelioma and other serious lung diseases. Therefore, the home building companies must have halted the use of asbestos in response to the new publicity given to its possible negative health consequences.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the explanation above?
A: On average, fewer people are having homes built using asbestos insulation than in decades past.
B: People living in homes built with asbestos insulation may continue to experience health problems after the asbestos has been removed.
C: The use of asbestos insulation in industrial buildings has remained fairly constant, while its use in residences has sharply declined.
D: Sales of alternative insulation materials such as fiberglass have increased in recent decades.
E: Many alternative insulation materials that were previously prohibitively expensive have dropped considerably in price in recent decades. The language "calls into question" in the question stem tells us that this is a Weaken question. We're trying to undermine the argument, and the way we do that is by attacking the arguments assumption. Now, in many cases, there's a few steps to get to the argument's assumption--we'd spot the conclusion, find the evidence used by the author to back up that conclusion, and then look for shifts in scope and changes in terminology. But here, we don't need to do any of that! This is a classic GMAT argument structure: causality. The author is arguing that because asbestos publicity and asbestos disuse occurred around the same time, that negative publicity must be the cause for asbestos falling out of favor. Whenever the author concludes that X leads to why, the author's assumption is very simple: "There is no better or alternative explanation." So, we want to weaken that assumption. Which answer choice provides an alternate explanation? Which answer choice suggests that there is an alternate reason for asbestos to fall out of construction companies' favor? That's (E)--there's a cheaper alternative to asbestos available now! And since that matches our prediction perfectly, that's the answer. Hope this helps! Hi, Can you please explain what's wrong with Option D. This says almost the same thing as E. how do we pick E between D& E ?
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Re: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction [#permalink]
13 Sep 2012, 16:33
+1 E The change in the use of construction material was caused by the relative cost of those materials.
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Re: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction [#permalink]
13 Sep 2012, 20:54
Premise - the vast majority of construction companies have halted the use of asbestos for installation Premise - word began to spread through various news media that long-term exposure to asbestos was causally linked to mesothelioma and other serious lung diseases Conclusion - the home building companies must have halted the use of asbestos in response to the new publicity given to its possible negative health consequences. Anything which weakens the conclusion is our answer E is our answer
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Re: CR Weaken Argument - Asbestos [#permalink]
13 Sep 2012, 21:02
soaringAlone wrote: KapTeacherEli wrote: soaringAlone wrote: In recent decades, the vast majority of construction companies have halted the use of asbestos for installation. During this same time period, word began to spread through various news media that long-term exposure to asbestos was causally linked to mesothelioma and other serious lung diseases. Therefore, the home building companies must have halted the use of asbestos in response to the new publicity given to its possible negative health consequences.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the explanation above?
A: On average, fewer people are having homes built using asbestos insulation than in decades past.
B: People living in homes built with asbestos insulation may continue to experience health problems after the asbestos has been removed.
C: The use of asbestos insulation in industrial buildings has remained fairly constant, while its use in residences has sharply declined.
D: Sales of alternative insulation materials such as fiberglass have increased in recent decades.
E: Many alternative insulation materials that were previously prohibitively expensive have dropped considerably in price in recent decades. Hi, Can you please explain what's wrong with Option D. This says almost the same thing as E. how do we pick E between D& E ? Hi, I know the question is not directed to me but (if youdo not mind) just let me put my 2 cents here  Premise - the vast majority of construction companies have halted the use of asbestos for installation Premise - word began to spread through various news media that long-term exposure to asbestos was causally linked to mesothelioma and other serious lung diseases Conclusion - the home building companies must have halted the use of asbestos in response to the new publicity given to its possible negative health consequences. Anything which weakens the conclusion is our answer D states that the alternative insulation cost has increased, We cannot conclude from this that the cost of asbestos decreased or its sales increased. It is a perfect "shell" type options which deviates you from the answer. GMAT generally gives these options near to the correct answer. E is our answer
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Re: CR Weaken Argument - Asbestos
[#permalink]
13 Sep 2012, 21:02
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