As a large corporation in a small country, Hachnut wants its managers

Question

As a large corporation in a small country, Hachnut wants its managers to have international experience, so each year it sponsors management education abroad for its management trainees. Hachnut has found, however, that the attrition rate from this program is becoming increasingly high, with many especially promising participants leaving Hachnut to join competing firms even before completing the program. Hachnut does use performance during the program as a criterion in deciding among candidates for management positions, but it finds itself more and more in the position of selecting from a critically depleted pool of candidates. The program is thus beginning to work against Hachnut's interest. Therefore, if the attrition problem cannot be successfully addressed, Hachnut should discontinue the sponsorship program.

In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

A. The first describes a practice that the argument seeks to justify; the second states the main conclusion of the argument.

B. The first describes a practice that the argument seeks to justify; the second identifies a standard that any successful Justification would have to meet.

C. The first is an intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the argument; the second states that main conclusion.

D. The first introduces a policy that the argument seeks to evaluate; the second states a criterion to be used in that evaluation.

E. The first raises a consideration against abandoning the policy that the argument seeks to evaluate; the second states the evaluation at which the argument arrives.

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Official Answer

E

MartyMurray · Accepted Answer

Explanation

As a large corporation in a small country, Hachnut wants its managers to have international experience, so each year it sponsors management education abroad for its management trainees. Hachnut has found, however, that the attrition rate from this program is becoming increasingly high, with many especially promising participants leaving Hachnut to join competing firms even before completing the program. Hachnut does use performance during the program as a criterion in deciding among candidates for management positions, but it finds itself more and more in the position of selecting from a critically depleted pool of candidates. The program is thus beginning to work against Hachnut's interest. Therefore, if the attrition problem cannot be successfully addressed, Hachnut should discontinue the sponsorship program.

In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

The passage presents a program that Hachnut uses to get its managers to have international experience: "each year it sponsors management education abroad for its management trainees."

It then presents an issue with the program: "the attrition rate from this program is becoming increasingly high."

It presents a reason to continue using the program: "Hachnut does use performance during the program as a criterion."

It expands on the problem with the program: "it finds itself more and more in the position of selecting from a critically depleted pool of candidates. The program is thus beginning to work against Hachnut's interest."

Finally, it states a conclusion indicated by use of the conclusion word "therefore": "if the attrition problem cannot be successfully addressed, Hachnut should discontinue the sponsorship program."

A. The first describes a practice that the argument seeks to justify; the second states the main conclusion of the argument.

Many people choose this choice, and there are multiple reasons why.

One is that the second portion of this choice is correct since the second boldface portion does state the main conclusion of the argument.

Another is that the first boldface portion does describe a practice.

However, what we need to notice to eliminate this choice is that it is not the case that the argument "seeks to justify" the practice of using performance during the program as a criterion in deciding among candidates. The argument simply mentions that practice as a reason to continue the management education program without seeking to justify that practice.

So, "seeks to justify" in this choice is a failure point.

Eliminate.

B. The first describes a practice that the argument seeks to justify; the second identifies a standard that any successful justification would have to meet.

As discussed in the explanation for choice (A), the first part of this choice is incorrect since the passage does not seek to justify the practice described by the first boldface portion.

Also, the second part of this choice is incorrect because the second boldface portion does not identify a standard that a justification of the first would have to meet since there's no discussion of such a justification in the first place.

At the same time, we can see that the question-writer did make the second portion of this choice a little tricky since "if the attrition problem cannot be successfully addressed," could be considered a presentation of a standard.

Eliminate.

C. The first is an intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the argument; the second states that main conclusion.

This choice is tricky because the second boldfaced portion does state the main conclusion of the argument and the first boldfaced portion precedes the second. So, if we're not careful, we could perceive this choice to be correct.

However, the truth is that the first boldfaced portion does not present an intermediate conclusion. Rather it presents a consideration in favor of continuing the management education program.

Eliminate.

D. The first introduces a policy that the argument seeks to evaluate; the second states a criterion to be used in that evaluation.

The question-writer made this choice a little tricky by including a couple correct parts:

The first is that the first boldfaced portion does present a policy: using performance during the program as a criterion in deciding among candidates.

The second is that "if the attrition problem cannot be successfully addressed," could be considered a criterion for evaluating a policy.

However, the rest of this choice is incorrect. After all, the argument merely mentions the policy of using performance during the program as a criterion in deciding among candidates and does not seek to evaluate it, and the criterion stated in the second boldfaced portion is not used for evaluating the policy presented by the first boldfaced portion.

Eliminate.

E. The first raises a consideration against abandoning the policy that the argument seeks to evaluate; the second states the evaluation at which the argument arrives.

Many people choose (A) over this one, for a few reasons:

One is that, as we have seen, much of (A) is correct.

Another is that the first portion of this choice is convoluted. As we saw in our review of the passage, the first boldfaced portion presents a reason for Hachnut to continue using the management education program: "Hachnut does use performance during the program as a criterion." However, the first portion of this choice doesn't say that in a simple way. Rather it says the same thing in a convoluted way:

Simple Way    Convoluted Way      a reason to continue using  a consideration against abandoning    the management education program  the policy that the argument seeks to evaluate

A final reason why people don't select this choice is that the second portion says "the argument's main conclusion" in an unexpected and unfamiliar way, "the evaluation at which the argument arrives." So, even though we can readily tell that the second boldfaced portion presents the argument's main conclusion, we can easily miss that the second portion of this choice is correct.

Nevertheless, as we can see, the first and second portions of this choice correctly describe the first and second boldfaced portions of the passage.

The correct answer is (E).

Bunuel · Answer

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KarishmaB · Answer

We need to break down the argument into its parts first Policy: Each year Hachnut sponsors management education abroad for its management trainees. Considerations in favour of the Policy: As a large corporation in a small country, Hachnut wants its managers to have international experience Hachnut uses performance during the program as a criterion in deciding among candidates for management positions. Considerations against the Policy: Hachnut has found, however, that the attrition rate of graduates from this program is very high, with many of them leaving Hachnut to join competing firms even before completing the program. Intermediate Conlcusion: The program is thus beginning to work against Hachnut's interest. Conclusion: If the attrition problem cannot be successfully addressed, Hachnut should discontinue the sponsorship program. The first is a consideration in favour of the policy. The second is the main conclusion of the argument. Let's look at the options now: A. The first describes a practice that the argument seeks to justify; the second states the main conclusion of the argument. This is the first BF: Hachnut uses performance during the program as a criterion in deciding among candidates for management positions. It describes a practice - true - but the argument is not trying to justify this practice. The argument does not say that this practice is good because otherwise there is no other quantitative measure to compare candidates etc; that using performance during the program as a criterion in deciding among candidates for management positions makes sense etc. The argument gives this statement simply to tell us why the policy (the policy of conducting management trainings) is useful. Hence this option is incorrect. The second is indeed the main conclusion of the argument. B. The first describes a practice that the argument seeks to justify; the second identifies a standard that any successful Justification would have to meet. The first describes a utility of the program. The argument is not trying to justify this practice. Ignore second in any case. C. The first is an intermediate conclusion that is drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the argument; the second states that main conclusion. First is not the intermediate conclusion. D. The first introduces a policy that the argument seeks to evaluate; the second states a criterion to be used in that evaluation. Again, as discussed in option (A), the argument does not seek to evaluate the practice/policy given by the first statement. The argument gives this BF1 simply to tell us why the policy of conducting management trainings is useful. Hence this option is incorrect. The argument is actually evaluating the policy of conducting management trainings. It is not evaluating the policy of using performance during the program as a criterion in deciding among candidates for management positions. E. The first raises a consideration against abandoning the policy that the argument seeks to evaluate; the second states the evaluation at which the argument arrives. The argument does seek to evaluate a policy (which is "Each year Hachnut sponsors management education abroad for its management trainees.") The first is a consideration in favour of this policy. It is a use of the policy. It gives Hachnut parameters to decide who to put in management positions. Hence it is a consideration against abandoning the policy that the argument seeks to evaluate. "the evaluation at which the argument arrives" is another way of saying "the main conclusion of the argument". Hence BF2 is correct too. Answer (E) Discussion on Boldface Questions: https://youtu.be/U57vXdqujkY GMAT-Club-Forum-e9qqp6wl.png

A_Nishith · Answer

First Boldfaced Part:  “Hachnut has found, however, that the attrition rate from this program is becoming increasingly high, with many especially promising participants leaving Hachnut to join competing firms even before completing the program.”

This introduces a problem with the sponsorship program (high attrition rate).

Second Boldfaced Part:  “Therefore, if the attrition problem cannot be successfully addressed, Hachnut should discontinue the sponsorship program.”

This presents the main conclusion (discontinuation of the program).
Option E:
First Boldfaced Part: Raises a consideration against abandoning the policy that the argument seeks to evaluate.
Second Boldfaced Part: States the evaluation at which the argument arrives.
Now, why this works:

The first boldfaced part is indeed raising a consideration against abandoning the sponsorship program because it's pointing out a significant issue: the attrition rate. The argument is evaluating whether the program should continue. The consideration raised is that the program may not be effective if promising participants leave.

The second boldfaced part presents the evaluation or conclusion: If the attrition problem cannot be fixed, Hachnut should discontinue the program.

Why E Fits: 
The first boldface explains a problem that affects the sponsorship program but does not outright suggest abandoning it; instead, it raises a concern about the program's effectiveness.
The second boldface expresses the final decision or evaluation based on the concern raised: discontinuation of the program if the issue isn't resolved.

Answer: E

SudsMeister · Answer

I think the major tussle is between A and E.

In option A:
BF2 is correct.
BF1: describe a practice that the argument seeks to justify. The practice mentioned in BF1 is choosing management positions on the basis of candidate's performance in the sponsored program. Is the argument seeking to justify / evaluate the management positions' hiring practice or is it trying to question the usefulness of the sponsorship program? It is the latter, and thus BF1 is incorrect.

In option E:
BF2: it states the evaluation at which the argument arrives = conclusion at which the argument arrives. True.
BF1: raises a consideration against abandoning the policy that the argument seeks evaluate.
Whenever the sentence is so convoluted, writing it down and fleshing it out helps me think more clearly.

against abandoning = don't abandon = double negatives = favouring
policy that argument seeks to evaluate = the sponsorship program

So basically BF1 is saying that - it is raising a reason for favouring the sponsorship policy i.e. it is giving us a reason to keep the sponsorship policy because it is might be of some use. What is the use as per BF1? That the performance in the sponsored program is used to find candidates for management positions. So, maybe, the sponsorship program has some positive use and we should keep it and not abandon it. The meaning fits correctly.

Answer E.

As a large corporation in a small country, Hachnut wants its managers

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Simple Way	Convoluted Way
a reason to continue using	a consideration against abandoning
the management education program	the policy that the argument seeks to evaluate

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

As a large corporation in a small country, Hachnut wants its managers

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