Events & Promotions
|
|
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
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Nov 1811:00 AM PST
-12:00 PM PST
Join us in a live GMAT practice session and solve 30 challenging GMAT questions with other test takers in timed conditions, covering GMAT Quant, Data Sufficiency, Data Insights, Reading Comprehension, and Critical Reasoning questions.
Nov 2211:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment- Nov 23
11:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease. 
Nov 2510:00 AM EST
-11:00 AM EST
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors.
Updated on: 27 Mar 2020, 02:54
Originally posted by RaviChandra on 13 May 2010, 11:03.
Last edited by Bunuel on 27 Mar 2020, 02:54, edited 3 times in total.
Last edited by Bunuel on 27 Mar 2020, 02:54, edited 3 times in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
Kudos
Bookmarks
B
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% (01:59) correct
33%
(02:06)
wrong
based on 1488
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Brownlea’s post office must be replaced with a larger one. The present one cannot be expanded. Land near the present location in the center of town is more expensive than land on the outskirts of town. Since the cost of acquiring a site is a significant part of the total construction cost, the post office clearly could be built more cheaply on the outskirts of town.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument’s stated conclusion?
(A) The new post office will have to be built in accordance with a demanding new citywide building code.
(B) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, it will require a parking lot, but if sited near the present post office it will not.
(C) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, current city bus routes will have to be expanded to provide access.
(D) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, residents will make decreased use of post office boxes, with the result that mail carriers will have to deliver more mail to homes.
(E) If the new post office is built near the center of town, disruptions to city traffic would have to be minimized by taking such steps as doing some construction work in stages at night and on weekends.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument’s stated conclusion?
(A) The new post office will have to be built in accordance with a demanding new citywide building code.
(B) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, it will require a parking lot, but if sited near the present post office it will not.
(C) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, current city bus routes will have to be expanded to provide access.
(D) If the new post office is built on the outskirts of town, residents will make decreased use of post office boxes, with the result that mail carriers will have to deliver more mail to homes.
(E) If the new post office is built near the center of town, disruptions to city traffic would have to be minimized by taking such steps as doing some construction work in stages at night and on weekends.
27 Mar 2020, 02:53
Kudos
Bookmarks
RaviChandra
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
OA : (B)
OE : Curve ball: The argument starts off with one argument (sentences one + two: We must build a new post office because the old one can’t be expanded), but moves past that first decision to another, more problematic one: Where can the building be built cheaper? The conclusion that the outskirts site is “clearly” cheaper is the one we seek to undermine. Sure, land is cheaper on the outskirts than in town. But what (you may well have asked yourself) about other factors—other issues that might impact the cost? If (B) is true, then there’s a major cost of the outskirts site, building a parking lot, that wouldn’t be incurred in town. Notice that (B) doesn’t prove that the center of town would be the cheaper site. It simply casts doubt on the certainty of the author’s judgment that building on the outskirts would be cheaper. Given (B), we’re left with a need for more evidence in order to choose between the center location with its land costs, and the outskirts site with its parking lot costs. And the very need for more evidence proves that the argument has been undermined.
(A) Even assuming that that new building code would affect the cost of construction at all, let alone in a major way, this code inferably applies to both sites and hence cannot affect the site comparison.
(C), (D) Running extra buses to the outskirts site (C), or delivering more mail (D), would likely cost the city a few bucks. But they’re not construction bucks—they’re not part of the
building costs—and the argument is specifically about which site would be cheaper to build. Therefore, neither choice has any effect on the logic whatsoever.
(E), if anything, strengthens the logic. Adding yet another cost (however much it may cost to work nights and weekends) to the city center site makes the outskirts site seem that much cheaper in comparison.
• Often, when an LSAT question asks you to weaken logic, two or three of the choices will be outside the scope while one will act as a strengthener. Not a hard and fast
rule, but a useful pattern to know of and watch for.
• Principle: Forcing the author to come up with more evidence to support her conclusion is proof that that conclusion has been undermined. (B) illustrates this quite well; see explanation above.
General Discussion
13 May 2010, 11:21
Kudos
Bookmarks
RaviChandra
IMO B, my reasoning as below:
a. this statement is not concerned with the overall cost of the post office: irrelevant to the argument.
c. bus route expansion does not affect the cost of post office construction--->the argument is unaffected.
d. may be operational cost of the post office will increase, but construction cost will not be affected-->not relevant to the argument.
e. well dont have wording to express that this argument is irrelevant to the argument.
b. it shows that the cost of construction will increase at outskirts ... this is correct option and this weakens the argument.
