sanjanavaikund wrote:
I would like a better explanation for this question
First thing I'll say is that I have some minor qualms about some of the verbiage in this question, but I'll tell you my process as I did the problem:
I'll give it a go and will describe how I thought through the problem.
First I read the question.
Quote:
If true, which of the following would most strengthen the above recommendation?
This is a 'strengthen the argument' question, so I will be dealing with 'premise/conclusion/assumptions.'
I go to the argument to deconstruct.
Quote:
Burglar alarm systems can be inaccurate in two ways: they can fail to detect an intruder when one is present, or they can falsely report the presence of an intruder. To detect the presence of an intruder most accurately, homeowners should purchase the system that is least likely to falsely report the presence of an intruder.
Okay so first I ID where the conclusion is. The conclusion is the second sentence.
CONCLUSION: a system that is least likely falsely report an intruder will detect the presence of intruders most accurately.
The premise is a little wonky, but it's basically: "Two ways to be inaccurate: NOT detecting an intruder that IS there; or DETECTING an intruder when there ISN'T one."
Now here's where my GMAT experience kicked in (though I think I have some qualms with the language used).
It's easy to read the conclusion as ONLY about the systems ability to ID an intruder that is there. BUT, my GMAT spidey-sense told me that the conclusion was about the OVERALL accuracy.
That is: "To detect the presence of an intruder most accurately" is meant to mean 'detecting presence when there is an intruder and also NOT detecting an intruder when there isn't."
But, I... take some umbrage with this. I think the conclusion should be written "To ensure a system that is most accurate," or "To ensure that a system makes as few mistakes as possible."
The language used seems too focused on avoiding ONE of the two errors (missing an intruder when there is one), when the question is actually about avoiding BOTH errors.
So... chalk that up to my GMAT spidey sense.
Given that I figured this is what the conclusion was really going for, and given that the passage thinks that 'a system that doesn't falsely report an intruder will be most accurate,' I figured that what would need to be true is that all systems are equally good at detecting an intruder when there is one. Answer E stated exactly that.
It's a somewhat annoying question because of this verbiage. I'm not sure it's an official question or not, but usually official questions would be more careful and precise.
EDIT:
You could think of the conclusion as "This system will detect presence of a burglar most accurately" and the premise as "Purchase a system that is least likely to falsely report the presence of an intruder."
I think to some degree I 'felt' that this was the argument, and part of the reason my spidey sense kicked in was that this logic makes the most sense if the conclusion is about OVERALL accuracy, not just 'accurately detecting a burglar when there is one.' One of the questions I asked myself was "Do systems that do not falsely report an intruder also not MISS an intruder when there is one?" I supposed this could be the case, but it really seemed to me like the the problem was emphasizing that the two 'failures' were distinct, so I was also wondering how the conclusion could be true if a system's 'accuracy' for the two kinds of errors was NOT linked. If that were the case, the conclusion only makes sense if it is about OVERALL accuracy.
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REED ARNOLDManhattan Prep GMAT InstructorVideo: The 24 Things Every GMAT Studier Needs to DoHow to Improve a GMAT ScoreThe Studying Verbal Starter Kit (...That's much more than a 'starter kit')The Studying Quant Starter Kit (...That's much more than a 'starter kit')The PERFECT data sufficiency question:On a three person bench, George sits in the middle of Alice and Darryl. If Alice is married, is an unmarried person sitting next to a married person?
1). George is married.
2). Darryl is not married.
Answer: