An overly centralized economy, not the changes in the climate, is resp

Question

An overly centralized economy, not the changes in the climate, is responsible for the poor agricultural production in Country X since its new government came to power. Neighboring Country Y has experienced the same climate conditions, but while agricultural production has been falling in Country X, it has been rising in Country Y.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument?.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument?

(A) Industrial production also is declining in Country X.
(B) Whereas Country Y is landlocked, Country X has a major seaport. 
(C) Both Country X and Country Y have been experiencing drought conditions.
(D) The crops that have always been grown in Country X are different from those that have always been grown in Country Y.
(E) Country X's new government instituted a centralized economy with the intention of ensuring an equitable distribution of goods.

fluke · Accepted Answer

Conclusion: An overly centralized economy is responsible for bad agriculture yield. Change in climate is NOT Responsible.

Reasoning: Neighboring country y has the same climate as country x does, yet y is showing better yield.

Weakener:
D: It is weakening the statement by saying that same climate may very well be the reason why x has lower yield.
Say both x and y are experiencing drought like condition but,
x produces rice, which needs water in abundance
y produces cotton, which thrives well in dry climate.
Thus, y has better yield despite having same climate as x has.

vnigam21 · Answer

Explanation for Options B vs D :

Often in handling CR questions what you are looking for is more a best answer than an exactly right answer, and it often makes sense to keep answers until you find a better one.

In this case, B does provide a difference, but the difference that B provides is not clearly related to agricultural production. While maybe there is some story one could come up with that would tie B to agricultural production, there is no clear and direct connection between the difference between having a port and being landlocked and agricultural production.  Generally the right answer to a CR question will have  a clear and and direct connection to what is being asked . 
 
D on the other hand provides a difference that is clearly and directly related to agricultural production. So D is a much better answer than B is.

GMATBLACKBELT · Answer

D.

A: this strengthens the argument. Suggesting that centralized economy is to blame.
B: Irrelevent
C: Basically says what the psg said. X and Y experienced the same climate conditions.
E: Doesn't weaken the argument. This is irrelevent. 

D: suggests that something else was the cause. i.e. bananas are grown in Y where as brussel sprouts grown in X.

crick20002002 · Answer

In cause and effect reasoning, for weakening

The choice that deals with attacking the relationship between cause and effect is preferred over a choice depicting alternate causes.

The above is an empirical rule i developed , while looking at a number of Weakening questions. I always found the above rule to hold in cause-effect reasoning questions

.

Crick

. Crick

RITCHAT · Answer

Conclusion: An overly centralized economy is responsible for bad agriculture yield. While the change in climate is NOT Responsible.

Consider option D: "The crops that have always been grown in country x are different from those that have always been grown in country y"

There are 2 points to consider:
1) Climatic conditions of country X is same as that of country Y.
2) Crop production of country X has decreased while it increased for country Y.

If the crops grown in both the countries is same then we can blame the economy. If the crops are different then we CAN'T blame the economy of the country.

kanigmat011 · Answer

HI Experts,
 reto ,
 daagh ,
 WaterFlowsUp

Whats the reason for discarding B , i din't found something substantial to discard B

colorblind · Answer

This post is really old, but will give my POV for future viewers:

What does a seaport have to do with agriculture? If it said more access to water bodies or inland rivers, then this answer would make sense. Besides, the focus here is 'climate.'
So D is the best choice.

MoeTu · Answer

I don't understand how D can be the right answer. It is stated in the Text that the poor production's rate was not noticed until the new government came to power, whereas answer choice D says that the crops which have been grown in country X and which are different from those planted in Y, have always been grown. So, the difference in production has to do with the policies the two countries take and not with the combination of plants grown in each one of those countries.

I think D could only be the right answer if it weren't stated that the low-production of country X has always been low and not since government X took control.

I think D could only be the right answer if it weren't stated that the low-production of country X has always been low and not since government X took control.

colorblind · Answer

There is no information given on when the new govt. came into power, could have been 8 years ago, maybe more, maybe less. Either ways, the authors main conclusion states that because climate conditions are the same for both countries, a rise in agricultural production in country Y should imply a rise in country X too ; if not, then something else - an overly centralized economy - is the cause for drop in agricultural production in country X.
We have to weaken the authors claim that an overly centralized economy is responsible for drop in production.

(d) The crops that have always been grown in country x are different from those that have always been grown in country y: This weakens the above conclusion. If the climate in country X & Y is cold and frost free ; country Y grows artichokes - best suited for cold climate - and country X grows corn - best suited for hot climate - this would explain why climate could be the main culprit for poor agricultural production in country X

adkikani · Answer

GMATNinja   VeritasPrepKarishma

Can you help me to identify main conclusion here?
I believe 'since' acts as a time frame marker instead of presenting 
a reason.

Am i trying to resolve mystery between two countries with (D) ?

GMATNinja · Answer

"Since" is indeed a time marker, but in this case it implies an action that continues into the present. For example, "I have been training for a marathon since August." I started training in August, but I am still training.

So ever since the new government came to power, there has been poor agricultural production in Country X. This implies that the poor agricultural production continues into the present. The conclusion is that this poor agricultural production is caused by an overly centralized economy, not the changes in the climate.

I hope that helps!

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Pre-thinking:

Conclusion:  An overly centralized economy, not the changes in the climate, is responsible for the poor agricultural production in Country X since its new government came to power.

Premise on which it is based:  Neighboring Country Y has experienced the same climate conditions, but while agricultural production has been falling in Country X, it has been rising in Country Y.

Since the conclusion depends on the varying growth of agriculture between country X and Y, we need an answer option that provides another difference between agriculture in country X and country Y.

Let us examine the answer options.

(A) Industrial production also is declining in Country X.  This does not address country Y nor agriculture, and is out of scope. Eliminate.

(B) Whereas Country Y is landlocked, Country X has a major seaport.  This provides an advantage that country X has over Y. Despite this, country X has poor growth in agriculture. This does not impact the conclusion in any way. Eliminate.

(C) Both Country X and Country Y have been experiencing drought conditions.  This provides a similarity between country X and Y - we need a point of difference. Eliminate.

(D) The crops that have always been grown in Country X are different from those that have always been grown in Country Y.  Correct answer as this provides a possible explanation for why country Y, despite facing the same climatic conditions, is doing better in agricultural growth. Different crops may react differently to the same climatic conditions. Thus, this weakens the argument by weakening the link between the premise and the conclusion.

(E) Country X's new government instituted a centralized economy with the intention of ensuring an equitable distribution of goods.  Irrelevant to the conclusion as it does not address country Y or agriculture in any way. Eliminate.

Hope this helps.

ak2121 · Answer

Why is B irrelevant? I mean having seaports and being landlocked causes climatic differences right?

GMATNinja · Answer

Let's start by considering the main conclusion: "an overly centralized economy,  not changes in climate , is responsible for the poor agricultural production in Country X since its new government came to power."

This conclusion is supported by the fact that agricultural production has been in rising Country Y, which has "experienced the  same climate conditions " as Country X.

You raise an interesting question. Does being landlocked vs. having seaports cause climatic differences? That certainly seems  possible .

But keep in mind that the question already tells us that the two countries experienced the " same climate conditions ." This is presented as a fact on which the argument is based (as opposed to a conclusion or an inference of the argument), so we can safely assume it's true.

So even if being landlocked vs. not landlocked  could  affect climate (and we're not really even sure about this), we know for a fact that Country X and Country Y have experienced the " same climate conditions ," so (B) isn't relevant.

However, if we had reason to believe that the same climate conditions could affect Country X  differently  than Country Y, that could undermine the argument. Since (D) tells us the two countries grow different crops, this gives a reason Country X could react differently than Country Y to the same climate conditions.

Since this provides an alternative explanation for Country X's poor agricultural production, (D) is the answer.

I hope that helps!

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

(A) Industrial production also is declining in Country X.
This might be a domino effect of the agricultural impact , this strengthens eleminate

(B) Whereas Country Y is landlocked, Country X has a major seaport. 
Seaport cannot directly impact agricultural growth therefore out

(C) Both Country X and Country Y have been experiencing drought conditions.
Similar conditions other factors are playing a crucial in determining the agricultural produciton in line with the passage therefore out

(D) The crops that have always been grown in Country X are different from those that have always been grown in Country Y.
This attributes the failure of production to the adaptation of plants which in turn indirectly corelates to climate this definitely weakens therefore let us hang on to it

(E) Country X's new government instituted a centralized economy with the intention of ensuring an equitable distribution of goods
This leads strength to theargument therefore out

Therefore IMO D

vickytvn · Answer

Could you identify central idea that author wanted to tell.
This was , though climate conditions of both country X and Y were same, when Production at X was decreasing IT was increasing at Y.
The weakner could be something that gives reason for not decrease in Y production.

Industrial production was Out of scope since cental idea was about Agriculture productiion.

Possible weakners:
Soil condition could be better in Y
the crops are different in Y and could produce more in similar climate condition

stackskillz · Answer

This is the quick solution I came up with: Another cause-effect passage; Keeping an eye out for disproving this relationship helps quickly answer CR questions like this.

Conc: Overly centralized economy => Poor agricultural production in X .

(A) Industrial production also is declining in Country X. - This higlights another issue in country X that doesn't impact the agricultural growth.  Drop

(B) Whereas Country Y is landlocked, Country X has a major seaport - This option higlights a difference between country X and Y. However, we don't have any further information to understand how this would impact crop production.  Drop

(C) Both Country X and Country Y have been experiencing drought conditions. This option further strengthens the claim in the passage.  Drop

(D) The crops that have always been grown in Country X are different from those that have always been grown in Country Y. This options does weaken the conclusion effectively. If the crops grown in the 2 countries have always been different, then the climate conditions required by the crops in each country can be different, i.e., climate required for country Y's crop might be too harsh for X's crop. This doesn't outright deny that centralization of the economy was the reason fro poor crop production, but defintely makes it less of a possible reason.  Keep

(E) Country X's new government instituted a centralized economy with the intention of ensuring an equitable distribution of goods. - Why did country X's new govt. institute centralized economy? The goal defintely doesn't look like increasing agricultural production. But does that weaken the conclusion - definitely not.  Drop

MS61 · Answer

Country X vs Country Y

(A) Industrial production also is declining in Country X. -  Incorrect : Out of scope 
(B) Whereas Country Y is landlocked, Country X has a major seaport.  Incorrect : Out of scope   
(C) Both Country X and Country Y have been experiencing drought conditions.   Incorrect : No impact    
(D) The crops that have always been grown in Country X are different from those that have always been grown in Country Y.  Correct: reasoning for differences  
(E) Country X's new government instituted a centralized economy with the intention of ensuring an equitable distribution of goods.  Incorrect : This reasoning is not required

An overly centralized economy, not the changes in the climate, is resp

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

An overly centralized economy, not the changes in the climate, is resp

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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