Industrialists from the country Distopia were accused of promoting the

Industrialists of country D were accused of promoting country D's intervention in the war.
The next statement directly says - this cannot be true because overall profit was $4bn whereas federal expenses were $8bn.
The implicit assumption of the second sentence is that industry had to pay for the war expenses. .
Read the argument carefully, no such thing has been explicitly said.

Now, if the industry was not supposed to pay for the war expenses, why on earth would they be bothered about how much expense the govt will have to bear.
this is exactly what choice B says.

Clear B.

The first part states that,

Industrialists motive of making profit during the war was the reason they made Distopia intervene in the civil war.

Second line opposes that by stating,

Federal expenses of intervention was 8 billion $, whereas the profit made is only 4 billion $. Hence the industrialists motive is not money making.

Question - What is the flaw in the 2nd sentence.
The answer is B because, it states that the profit of 4 billion $ is shared only among the industrialists, whereas the expense of 8 billion $ is imposed on all the citizens of Distopia. Clearly the industrialists make huge profits. Hence there is a profit reason behind the industrialists motive. Hence there is a flaw in the second sentence.

Let's see:
The argument assumes that the 8bn expenses will cancel the industrialists' profits.

A During the Arcadian war, many Distopian industrialists with facilities located in Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in Distopia.
(This doesn't address the issue properly. If this is true, we will still have to cope with the 8 billion dollars expenses. Hence incorrect)

B The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits.
(If this is true then the profits will go to the industrialists and the expenses will be sustained by someone else. Hence it's what we are looking for.)

C Most Distopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war.
(We are not really concerned with what happens in the aftermath. Hence incorrect)

D Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the events that triggered the civil war.
(We don't really care what happened before, the issue is not addressed. Hence incorrect)

E Many Distopians expressed concern over the suffering that Arcadians underwent during the civil war.
(This is totally out of scope, we don't care at all)

I hope this will help.

Industrialists from the country Distopia were accused of promoting the Distopian intervention in the Arcadian civil war merely to insure that the industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits during the war. Yet this cannot be the motive since, as the Distopians foresaw, Distopia’s federal expenses for the intervention were eight billion dollars, whereas, during the war, profits from the Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia totaled only four billion dollars.
Which of the following, if true, exposes a serious flaw in the argument made in the second sentence above?

The argument states that the Distopians DID NOT intervene because they were afraid that the profits of the facilities owned by the Distopian industrialists in the war area would suffer. This cannot be the reason for the intervention because the FEDERAL EXPENSES (who has to pay this?) doubled the profits that the Distopian INDUSTRIALISTS made with their factories in Arcadia.

(A) During the Arcadian war, many Distopian industrialists with facilities located in Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in Distopia.

If this were true, the Distopians would not care so much about the war area, because they made profits elsewhere. It does not really relate to the argument in the second sentence.


(B) The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits.

This is the right choice. The industrialists, who were responsible for the intervention, don’t care so much about the federal expenses because they don’t have to pay most of it. This disarms the argument in the second sentence and makes us think that the real reason for the intervention is the one pointed out in the first sentence.


(C) Most Distopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war.

This means that the war had no effect on the profits of the factories in Arcadia. It means that there must have been another reason for the intervention and thus supports the argument.


(D) Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the events that triggered the civil war.

The situation before the war is irrelevant to the argument.


(E) Many Distopians expressed concern over the suffering that Arcadians underwent during the civil war.

This does not expose a flaw in the argument. In fact, it gives us another reason why the Distopians could have intervened and thus supports the argument.

This one is a toughie and confusing one!!

The argument concludes that the since the profits made by the industrialist were ONLY 4 billion which does not count as a SUBSTANTIAL PROFIT, the industrialist DID NOT promote the war in order to make SUBSTANTIAL PROFITS.

The last lines provides us info. about the estimated federal EXPENSES and PROFITS earned by the industrialist.This indicates a disconnect or flaw.

B states that the whole war was NOT funded by the industrialist and that is the expenses were borne by those OTHER than the industrialist .

What would happen if the govt. asked the industrialist to fund the war - for example by placing a moratorium on industrial funding or by raising taxes that would increase cost of production, or by using new tax laws for industrialist ...????

B loosely says that the industrialist were kept out of the funding and hence, they made large profits. The rich industrialist were kept out of the loop and the common man was taxed to fund the war.

I hope my analysis makes sense.


I DONOT MIND KUDOS

This is an excellent question.
It is a combo of find the assumption and then find the flaw question.
The correct solution to this question will be very satisfying to the test taker.

Lets quickly break the question stem in premise and conclusion

Premise 1) Industrialist of Nation D are accused of intervening in civil war of Nation A to ensure profit
Premise 2) Government of Nation D's used 8 billion dollars in intervention. (Federal means government.)
Premise 3) Industrialist only gained 4 billion
Conclusion) Since money invested was 8 billion and Industrialist get only 4 billion in return, their motive was not to make profit. DONT ACCUSE THEM

This looks like a very cogent and strong argument. Why it is so strong:- because the argument is assuming that all 8 billion was invested by industrialist
Assumption):- Entire 8 billion was invested by the industrialist.

See it yourself by rereading the argument again this time with the ASSUMPTION
Premise 1) Industrialist of Nation D are accused of intervening in civil war of Nation A to ensure profit
Premise 2) Government of Nation D's used 8 billion dollars as expenses for the intervention.
Assumption):- Entire 8 billion expense was borne by the industrialist.
Premise 3) Industrialist only gained 4 billion
Conclusion) Since money invested was 8 billion and Industrialist get only 4 billion in return, their motive was not to make profit. DONT ACCUSE THEM

Now we have found the ASSUMPTION.
And now we will find the flaw.
What if Industrialist gave only 1 billion and got 4 billion in return. Then it will mean Industrialist's motive was to make profit.

What option proves that Industrialist invested less and made more money and that was Industrialist main Aim. --- to make profit.
(B) The largest proportion of federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits.

CORRECT ANSWER IS B

Industrialists from the country Distopia were accused of promoting the Distopian intervention in the Arcadian civil war merely to insure that the industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits during the war. Yet this cannot be the motive since, as the Distopians foresaw, Distopia’s federal expenses for the intervention were eight billion dollars, whereas, during the war, profits from the Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia totaled only four billion dollars.
Which of the following, if true, exposes a serious flaw in the argument made in the second sentence above?
(A) During the Arcadian war, many Distopian industrialists with facilities located in Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in Distopia.
(B) The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits.
(C) Most Distopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war.
(D) Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the events that triggered the civil war.
(E) Many Distopians expressed concern over the suffering that Arcadians underwent during the civil war.

Hi
something that hangs me down on this question is the relation $8 Billion expenses or cost of the war and than says Profit for the industrials, and as we know Profit = Revenue - Cost, so I assume Revenue is 8 billion - Cost for the industrials to produce product or service $4 billion = Profit from the stem $ Billion. So do we need to look for the weekener here in this part. but in that case the assumption to hold the conclusion ts that teh profit shoud have been higher than $ 4 billiion or more than 50% of the revenue. but because these industrials made only 4 $ billion they are not supporting the war, and that would be that these industrials did not make substantial profits so they are not motivated to support the war. So if my reasoning is correct than we need to disprove that in fact there was a motive and that 50 % or less profit margins is significant or something along those line? or? show that even small not significant profit would be a good motive to support the war? and than B comes saying that most of the invollved businiess enteties who take part of the war business do not inccure high profit but they are still in war business. which means that thay are in teh game even for small profit would support the war. is that what B trying to convey?

any thought, what you think?

The author claims that Distopian federal spends $8 billions for the war ( cash out flow = $8 billion) and the profit of the industrialists is $4 billions ( cash inflow = $ 4 billion). The net cash outflow for Distopians is therefore $4 billion. Hence the war is not beneficial for Distopia. ( The revenue and cost for the industrialists do not matter because their net profit is given - you may take this way: net loss for the federal = $ 8 billion, net profit for the industrialists = $ 4 billion, hence overall net loss = $ 4 billion).

The above point of the author is challenged by stating that industrialists do not lose much because of federal expense and they have no incentive to save the federal expense- the profit they make from the war outweighs the losses they make by federal expenses. Thus it may be valid that they promote the civil war for their benefit.

The argument is saying that financial objective cant be the motive for the intervention of sth sth.
Given that: Profit = 4B, Expense = 8B
Finding the flaw is to weaken the argument, hence we need to find something that talks about profit/cost (idk, maybe just leave it for now)

(C) Most Distopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war. => we are concerning about the war period, not the current time or future
(D) Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the events that triggered the civil war. => same as C, before the events that triggered the war is out of scope
(E) Many Distopians expressed concern over the suffering that Arcadians underwent during the civil war. => out of scope, the argument never mentioned anything about the 'suffering'

Choice A & B are h
(A) During the Arcadian war, many Distopian industrialists with facilities located in Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in Distopia. => this is super tempting isnt it? First of all, many is too vague, it could be 2% or 40%, 50%, the impact is different for each scenario. Secondly, the passage concerns about "industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia", per this choice it says "facilities located in Distopia", hmmm. Not cool. Even if we cant spot the first and second choice, the biggest flaw in this choice is "significant rise in productivity". In real life productivity might link to profit, but in this argument since we are already given the 2 variables (Profit & Cost), hence even if the productivity increased by 1000% it wouldnt affect the argument one bit
(B) The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits. => see the D federal's expense was already covered by some random guys who happened to have no significant industrial profits, hence we have a reason to believe that the D guys intervened for financial motive

Hi AndrewN VeritasKarishma GMATNinja GMATRockstar

I have some query on this question as A and B options could be interpreted in other way , Please share your opinion



Total Expenses by Distopia = 8 Billion
Profits by industrialists’ facilities = 4 billion



Even I get less profit in Arc but if Arc is the reason for my profits increase in Dis then I want to continue support Arc as far as total is in profit
here assumption: Productivity increase --> Profits ( i think this is reasonable)


Are those common people? Are those government ? Are those industrialists?
If non-industrialists who didn't receive profits: then argument is weakened
If industrialists who didn't receive profits : then argument is strengthened

Question lies on "Those"
2nd assumption to make this answer correct: Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia who totaled only four billion dollars - MAY HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT PROFITS .
Only with this assumption i can separate out class those and these industrialists.

I need to find an option : a serious flaw in the argument ( most weakens)
I choose A as it is simple and make sense
B is not very clear in terms of those and profits significant

I thought so critically and tried to be in the range of what is given in the argument .
i am disappointed that I still got wrong.

Query: Based on above lines, Please suggest what mistake I can avoid and How?

Thanks!AndrewN VeritasKarishma GMATNinja GMATRockstar

Btw: this is my 1000th post

Hello, mSKR, and congratulations. I suppose it is fitting that your 1000th post falls on a 1000 Series question. This one, like others I have seen from the 1000 Series, leaves a little to be desired in terms of what I call the linear logic of the passage and answer choices. I am not the only one who thinks so. The following is what Ron Purewal wrote about the question in 2007 on the Manhattan Prep GMAT Forum (all emphases are his, not my own):

yeah, so there's a rather large logic gap in this one. specifically:
* the profit of $4b went to the industrialists.
* the cost of $8b was borne by the feds.
the argument assumes - completely without justification - that the $8b cost to the feds will somehow cancel out the industrialists' profit. there's no reason that this should be the case, or, for that matter, that the costs and revenues of those two entities should have anything to do with one another.
therefore, to expose that flaw, we need an answer choice that demonstrates that the feds' and industrialists' ledgers are independent of each other, at least to a large enough degree that the industrialists can still make a tidy profit.
choice (b) does this.

By the process of elimination, as outlined by GMATNinja above, you should not have a problem getting rid of (A), which does not separate the two entities—industrialists and "feds," as Ron put it—in any satisfactory manner.

Good luck with your next 1000 posts. Thank you for your contributions to the community.

- Andrew

Thanks Sir:) for the support.

I would like to understand whether these kind of questions can be expected to come in GMAT Exam as well, question in which there is some logic gap.
What is the best way to deal with such question when you missed all options in 1st reading and still not convinced with a final answer.

My Situation :
I had to relook all options as I rejected A and B in my first reading due to some gap and didn't find satisfactory answer till E. After I shortlisted A and B , I had to spend another amount of time to make a decision .I even re-read the argument to find out what have I missed. This question took over 3-4 minutes and still got wrong in the end.

I do not think this question or many of the questions I have seen from the 1000 Series are indicative of what you can expect to see on the modern GMAT™. Understand, there are always going to be questions here or there that seem a bit off or that take liberties in ways that other questions do not. I think it is best to review these sorts of questions after the fact. You want to see if you can understand the logic of the answer choices, correct or incorrect, to set yourself up for success the next time, but there is no reason to obsess over a thirty-year-old question with a ninety-five percent difficulty rating on this site, particularly when you remind yourself that you will see no more than eight or so CR questions on the entire exam. Even for someone shooting for a 51 in Verbal, I would suggest the same: review this one-off question and then move on to more applicable material to see if you can prove yourself.

- Andrew

Industrialists from D were accused of intervening in A's civil war (internal war) to insure good profits for their facilities inside A. (In the time of war, more goods are needed)

D foresaw that D’s federal expenses for the intervention were eight billion dollars, whereas, during the war, profits from the Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia totaled only four billion dollars.

Conclusion: Profit cannot be the motive.

The argument says that federal expenses were double what D's industrialists earned (and they knew this is going to happen) so the industrialists could not have intervened in the war (kept it going) to make profits.

But note that the expenses are federal (make by the Govt of D) and profits earned are by Industrialists. So the very first point that comes to mind is how much of the expense of the Govt is borne by the industrialists? If of the 8 billion, the industrialists had to bear only 1 billion and others bore 7 billion then the industrialists made a huge profit.
If they had to bear 6 billion then they would have lost money.
So whether profit was the motive or not depends on what part of federal expenses the industrialists needed to bear.


(A) During the Arcadian war, many Distopian industrialists with facilities located in Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in Distopia.

This is irrelevant. They made 4 billion profit. Whether productivity increased or they charged a higher margin or some other reason, we don't know. All we care about is that profit was 4 billion. How it happened doesn't impact our argument at all.

(B) The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits.

Correct. This tells us that federal expenses are mainly borne by non industrialists. Then profit could be the motive of industrialists and the conclusion is weakened.

(C) Most Distopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war.

Irrelevant

(D) Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the events that triggered the civil war.

We don't know what substantial is. In any case, the profits seem to have increased during war.

(E) Many Distopians expressed concern over the suffering that Arcadians underwent during the civil war.

Irrelevant

Answer (B)

Pre-thinking -
Misleading statistics. The cost is $8 billion (who took this cost?) while the profits are just $4 billion (whose profit is this?)
The assumption is that the people who are taking the majority of the cost and people who are reaping the benefits are the same - what if the industrialists don't take the majority of the cost (someone else - may be the payer), but they take 100% of the profit. Then, the conclusion that "This (substantial profits) can't be the motive" falls apart.

Which of the following, if true, exposes a serious flaw in the argument made in the second sentence above?

(A) During the Arcadian war, many Distopian industrialists with facilities located in Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in Distopia. - the alternate cause - in this case, "a significant rise in productivity" will strengthen the argument and not point at the flaw.

(B) The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who receive no significant industrial profits. - exactly. Points out the flaw in the assumption.

(C) Most Distopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war. - We aren't concerned about what happens after the war. Out of scope.

(D) Distopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the events that triggered the civil war. - We aren't concerned about what happens before the war. Out of scope.

(E) Many Distopians expressed concern over the suffering that Arcadians underwent during the civil war. - out of scope.