A recent report suggests that the increasing popularity

Question

Hi All Looking forward to a constructive discussion!! Please share your reasoning for the question.

A recent report suggests that the increasing popularity of free e-paper will lead to a decline in the willingness of people to buy newspapers in the coming years; however, the report is clearly flawed. Despite the wide accessibility of e-leaning courses, students continued to enroll for classroom courses. Given that the availability of e-learning courses did not stop students to pay for classroom courses, it is unlikely that people will cease from buying newspaper in the future. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument? A. Students value the competitive environment provided by the group study in the classroom learning. B. A large proportion of students who take online course also enroll in classroom course. C. Students who take classroom course tend to buy online course more often than students who do not take classroom course D. Some publishing companies print free newspapers and make money only on advertisements. E. A high majority of people read newspaper while travelling when they lack access to internet Thanks! Dolly

bb61 · Accepted Answer

A recent report suggests that the increasing popularity of free e-paper will lead to a decline in the willingness of people to buy newspapers in the coming years; however, the report is clearly flawed. Despite the wide accessibility of e-leaning courses, students continued to enroll for classroom courses. Given that the availability of e-learning courses did not stop students to pay for classroom courses, it is unlikely that people will cease from buying newspaper in the future.

report: free e-paper--> decline in the willingness of people to buy newspapers
 con: the report is flawed... (free e-paper will not lead to the decline of people's willingness to buy newspapers)  this is what we are going to weaken.
wide accessibility of e-learning courses ...>no decline in the classroom courses' enrollment

prethinking: this is an analogy case. in analogy arguments, it is assumed that the two cases are similar and have similar conditions.

if an option shows that these two cases are not similar somehow, it will weaken the conclusion.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. Students value the competitive environment provided by the group study in the classroom learning . this option is a serious weakener. because it shows that the analogy is incorrect. this option shows that the students perceive the value of group learning that they attend the classroom courses and why online courses could not take the place of classroom ones.. while group learning cannot be a reason to read newspapers!!

B. A large proportion of students who take online course also enroll in classroom course.  in first glance I took this as a contender but notice the language of this option.. a large majority.. it means there are still students who just enroll in online courses. if similar case happens for newspapers, the number of those people who are willing to read newspapers will decline! it weakens the argument but it's effect is tangential and consider that this option has no touch with the analogy in the argument. it does not give good reason to imagine why people who read e-papers will continue to read newspapers!
 
C. Students who take classroom course tend to buy online course more often than students who do not take classroom course  analogy between students who take classroom courses and those who do not take classroom course! irrelevant!

D. Some publishing companies print free newspapers and make money only on advertisements.   the source of making money for publishing company is out of scope
 
E. A high majority of people read newspaper while traveling when they lack access to internet  this is an opposite answer. it strengthen the argument by showing that reading newspapers will not decline anyhow. because those who read newspapers do not have alternative method of online access to e-papers.

DollyS · Answer

Hi Bibinaz Thanks for your detailed response! I loved the way you've approached the question, especially the way you've noted down the important details and applied pre-thinking before explaining the answer choices.

As you've rightly captured, the argument forms an analogy between the following cases: Case 1: wide accessibility of e-learning courses ...>no decline in the classroom courses' enrollment Case 2: free e-paper--> will not lead to a decline in the willingness of people to buy newspapers B. A large proportion of students who take online course also enroll in classroom course " I took this as a contender but notice the language of this option.. a large majority.. it means there are still students who just enroll in online courses. if similar case happens for newspapers, the number of those people who are willing to read newspapers will decline! it weakens the argument " Now if we look at option B, it only talks about case 2. It doesn't tell us whether it is similar or different to case 1. According to your assumption, the correct answer choice should show that given cases are not similar . The option doesn't have any impact on the assumption. Also, the argument doesn't say that the number of people will decline. It's about the willingness to buy newspaper. "but it's effect is tangential and consider that this option has no touch with the analogy in the argument . it does not give good reason to imagine why people who read e-papers will continue to read newspapers!" You're right! The option doesn't make any connection with the analogy in the argument. It just tells us that both e-courses and classroom course can co-exist. Thus this choice is irrelevant. Does it make sense? Once again, I loved reading your explanation! Thanks! Dolly

bb61 · Answer

yes, your right but please consider that willingness will certainly affect the buying behavior. I want you to notice one important point here; what I did before analyzing the answer choices was prethinking. prethinking is quite helpful. in prethinking, we consider the possible assumptions. considering assumptions helps to understand the argument and its circumstances. but the right answer choice is not always related to assumptions. consider the following test.. analogy case but the right answer choice has nothing to do with similarity or differences of two cases. smith-argued-that-recreational-equipment-owned-in-common-175500.html that's the beauty of gmat!! hope it helps.

NanaA · Answer

It seems to me that A is the most irrelevant answer of all the possible choices . The argument is based on Students having a higher propensity to enroll in classroom courses to justify the assumption that , sales of E-papers will not decline . So, how is picking the Answer that confirms the authors argument seriously weakening the authors argument? For instance if students prefer the competitiveness of the classroom setting, we are to infer that individuals will prefer a regular newspaper because of X&Y reason such as the feel of a real newspaper. B & C are the only ones showing students still use E-courses which undermines the original justification for the authors reasoning. In my humble opinion . I have been known to be wrong before so...

abhimahna · Answer

Hi NanaA , There is a flaw in your reasoning. The argument uses the example of students just to link it with the case of the newspapers. The argument says students even after opting for online courses opt for offline courses. It says online courses do not stop them from taking offline courses. Then the author uses the same reasoning to justify that given the presence of e-papers won't stop people to buy newspapers. Thus, the argument is relating one event to another without considering the reasons for first that may not be applicable for 2nd. Now option A is saying the main reason for students to do so is to get a competitive feeling. This case may not be valid in case of reading news papers. Thus, this weakens the link the author has used while relating two independent events. Now, let me talk about what you said: You said if students prefer X for offline, so people may prefer Y for newspapers. But do you have any link between X and Y? No, right. We need to keep in mind that author is relating two events so there must be a link, which we are breaking using option A. I hope that makes sense.

NanaA · Answer

Thank you for such a timely response. I considered A for the same reason you have stated. I am thinking about it too much . I should have just picked the most straight forward answer. I will just defer to someone such as yourself who actually knows what he or she is talking about. My reason for preferring C is because they show the continued use of classroom courses actually increases the use of E-courses . Which is I thought was analogous to Increased use of E-paper and declining use of newspapers. And I also thought competitiveness was just a unique Identifier for why students prefer the classroom . Which also made me think the uniqueness of a real newspaper vs an online version. However now that you explain it , it seems you are correct. The GMAT just messes with my head , it makes me think 1+1=3 when in fact its 2 lol.

wadhwakaran · Answer

Conclusion: It is unlikely that people will cease from buying newspaper in the future.

Reasoning: Given that the availability of e-learning courses did not stop students to pay for classroom courses

Task: Weakening the Conclusion
 
Plan: Provide another reason for student joining the classroom courses not just availability of another option such as peer learning in physical classes, competitive environment, development of other good habits etc.

A. Students value the competitive environment provided by the group study in the classroom learning. Clearly does the job.
B. A large proportion of students who take online course also enroll in classroom course. Incorrect as it says people will buy both e-paper and newspaper

C. Students who take classroom course tend to buy online course more often than students who do not take classroom course Incorrect as it says people will buy both e-paper and newspaper

D. Some publishing companies print free newspapers and make money only on advertisements. Irrelevant as question stem does not talk about the cost

E. A high majority of people read newspaper while travelling when they lack access to internet Incorrect strengthen at best.

JoeKan1234 · Answer

A is correct because there is no such competitive environment in reading e-papers or newspapers. Therefore, reading e-papers or newspapers is actually different from attending in-class courses or online courses.

A recent report suggests that the increasing popularity

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