Last visit was: 18 Nov 2025, 17:34 It is currently 18 Nov 2025, 17:34
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
605-655 Level|   Assumption|         
User avatar
GMATD11
User avatar
Joined: 10 Nov 2010
Last visit: 25 Sep 2012
Posts: 128
Own Kudos:
3,191
 [17]
Given Kudos: 22
Location: India
Concentration: Strategy, Operations
GMAT 1: 520 Q42 V19
GMAT 2: 540 Q44 V21
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
GMAT 2: 540 Q44 V21
Posts: 128
Kudos: 3,191
 [17]
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during Updated on: 07 Jan 2020, 06:48
Originally posted by GMATD11 on 28 Jan 2012, 09:37.
Last edited by nightblade354 on 07 Jan 2020, 06:48, edited 3 times in total.
formatted
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
15
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

45% (medium)

Question Stats:

67% (01:50) correct 33% (02:04) wrong based on 1164 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during weeks in which national holidays occur. Four days a week he works in an insurance company; on Fridays he works as a blacksmith. Last week there were no holidays, and John was not on vacation. Therefore, he must have worked in the insurance company on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

a) John never takes a vacation of more than one week in length.

b) Every day last week that John worked, he worked for an entire workday.

C) John does not take vacations in weeks in which national holidays occur.

d) Last week John worked neither on Saturday nor on Sunday.

e) There were no days last week on which John both worked in the insurance company and also worked as a blacksmith.

Show Spoiler
I marked E
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
D
User avatar
LalaB
User avatar
Current Student
Joined: 23 Oct 2010
Last visit: 17 Jul 2016
Posts: 227
Own Kudos:
1,327
 [1]
Given Kudos: 73
Location: Azerbaijan
Concentration: Finance
Schools: HEC '15 (A)
GMAT 1: 690 Q47 V38
Schools: HEC '15 (A)
GMAT 1: 690 Q47 V38
Posts: 227
Kudos: 1,327
 [1]
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during 28 Jan 2012, 12:47
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
so, u question seems to be why D is right?

in the text nowhere is mentioned about weekends. so, if u do not have the assumption that Sunday and Saturday this guy doesnt work, u cant say that he works from Monday till Tuesday for sure. without this assumption one can think that this guy works say Monday, Saturday and Sunday.
so, this assumption can help us to limit his working days

hope it helps
avatar
goalset
avatar
Joined: 08 Aug 2011
Last visit: 30 Mar 2012
Posts: 78
Own Kudos:
35
 [2]
Given Kudos: 51
GPA: 3.5
Posts: 78
Kudos: 35
 [2]
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during 28 Jan 2012, 21:23
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I agree D and E both are close.But E cannot be the assumption on which this argument is based because it is stated that on 4 days he works in an insurance company and on 1 day ie. the friday he works as an blacksmith,there is no overlap of days he could not work as an blacksmith and as an insurance agent on the same day.
D,leaving friday he works at the insurance company for 4 days and these 4 days may include saturday and sunday but if he did not work on weekend then he must have worked on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Thursday last week.
User avatar
daboo343
User avatar
Joined: 09 Nov 2012
Last visit: 20 Nov 2022
Posts: 223
Own Kudos:
708
 [2]
Given Kudos: 162
Status:You have to have the darkness for the dawn to come
Daboo: Sonu
GMAT 1: 590 Q49 V20
GMAT 2: 730 Q50 V38
Products:
My Reviews
GMAT 2: 730 Q50 V38
Posts: 223
Kudos: 708
 [2]
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during 25 Oct 2016, 03:58
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATD11
15) John works five days each week except when on the.
vacation or during weeks in which national holidays
occur. Four days a week he works in an insurance
company; on Fridays he works as a blacksmith. Last
week there were no holidays, and John was not on
vacation. Therefore, he must have worked in the
insurance company on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Thursday last week.
Which one of the following is an assumption on
which the argument depends?
a) John never takes a vacation of more than one week in length.
b) Every day last week that John worked, he
worked for an entire workday.
C) John does not take vacations in weeks in which
national holidays occur.
d) Last week John worked neither on Saturday
nor on Sunday.
e) There were no days last week on which John
both worked in the insurance company and
also worked as a blacksmith.

I marked E
Show more
Conclusion:Therefore, he must have worked in the
insurance company on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Thursday last week.
Premise:Four days a week he works in an insurance
company; on Fridays he works as a blacksmith. Last
week there were no holidays, and John was not on
vacation
Possible Assumption: As conclusion says he worked on M,T,W,T and F as a Blacksmith. at the same time, as we know he works only 5 days a week. So from the above data it is clear that he didn't worked on Sat and Sun.

POE:
a)Incorrect John never takes a vacation of more than one week in length.
Not relevent to the present context.
b)Incorrect Every day last week that John worked, he
worked for an entire workday.
It doesn't link premise to the conclusion. Whether he works for full day or not it does't matter because we are concerned with only days in which he worked for last week.
So this one is also irrelevant.
C) IncorrectJohn does not take vacations in weeks in which
national holidays occur.
Not relevant.
d) CorrectLast week John worked neither on Saturday
nor on Sunday.
It matches with our thinking
Just recheck through "Negation test"
On negating we get " Last week John worked on Saturday
and on Sunday". this negated option tears our conclusion.
e)Incorrect There were no days last week on which John
both worked in the insurance company and
also worked as a blacksmith.
It has no relavence to the stimulus
User avatar
Abhishek009
User avatar
Board of Directors
Joined: 11 Jun 2011
Last visit: 18 Jul 2025
Posts: 5,937
Own Kudos:
5,326
 [2]
Given Kudos: 463
Status:QA & VA Forum Moderator
Location: India
GPA: 3.5
WE:Business Development (Commercial Banking)
Posts: 5,937
Kudos: 5,326
 [2]
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during 25 Oct 2016, 13:12
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATD11
15) John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during weeks in which national holidays occur. Four days a week he works in an insurance company; on Fridays he works as a blacksmith. Last week there were no holidays, and John was not on vacation. Therefore, he must have worked in the insurance company on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

a) John never takes a vacation of more than one week in length.
b) Every day last week that John worked, he worked for an entire workday.
C) John does not take vacations in weeks in which national holidays occur.
d) Last week John worked neither on Saturday nor on Sunday.
e) There were no days last week on which John both worked in the insurance company and also worked as a blacksmith.
Show more

It helps me to visualize the things :-D

John's normal routine is -
Attachment:
Capture.PNG
Capture.PNG [ 2.65 KiB | Viewed 11926 times ]

Further it is stated -
Quote:
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during weeks in which national holidays occur.......... Last week there were no holidays, and John was not on vacation.
Show more
So,Be what John worked for 5 days last week...

Now, from this data the Author concludes that John worked at the Insurance Company as per his usual routine ( without any exception ), that might be possible only if

He works as per routine and doesn't substitute the usual work days for a Saturday / Sunday...

If John decides to make weekly of or takes 2 days leave with the condition that he will have to go to office on Saturday/ Sunday, then the conclusion doesn't hold true..

Hence , answer must be (D)
User avatar
hellosanthosh2k2
User avatar
Joined: 02 Apr 2014
Last visit: 07 Dec 2020
Posts: 361
Own Kudos:
597
 [3]
Given Kudos: 1,227
Location: India
Schools: XLRI"20
GMAT 1: 700 Q50 V34
GPA: 3.5
Schools: XLRI"20
GMAT 1: 700 Q50 V34
Posts: 361
Kudos: 597
 [3]
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during 14 Sep 2017, 02:42
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Clear D.

E - cannot be assumption. If it were an assumption, then total number of days worked last week will be 4 (3 days(insurance) + Friday(insurance + blacksmith)), which contradicts the premise - john works 5 days a week unless that week has national holiday or he is on vacation.
avatar
nayyarsidharth
avatar
Joined: 21 Jun 2017
Last visit: 11 Nov 2021
Posts: 14
Own Kudos:
4
 [1]
Given Kudos: 3
Posts: 14
Kudos: 4
 [1]
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during 16 Sep 2017, 13:28
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Fairly straight forward question. Answer, D.

a) John never takes a vacation of more than one week in length. - We don't care about how long his vacations are. The question talks about his schedule last week and we know he wasn't on vacation then. So out.

b) Every day last week that John worked, he worked for an entire workday. - Out of scope. Even on normal days we don't know if he works full-time or part-time, so negating this would in no way change the conclusion

C) John does not take vacations in weeks in which national holidays occur. Out of scope. Even if he does take vacations in weeks with holidays, the argument states that last week there were no holidays nor was he on a vacation. We are only concerned about last week

d) Last week John worked neither on Saturday nor on Sunday. Correct. If we negate this, it means John worked on Saturday or/and Sunday at the insurance company. But since he only works four days at the insurance company, he could not have worked there Mon-Thurs.

e) There were no days last week on which John both worked in the insurance company and also worked as a blacksmith. If we take this to be true, it still leaves the possibility open that he worked on Saturday or/and Sunday. Therefore, he could not have worked Mon-thursday. Incorrect.
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 18,835
Own Kudos:
986
Posts: 18,835
Kudos: 986
John works five days each week except when on the vacation or during 16 Jul 2024, 06:33
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7445 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
234 posts
miag
188 posts