CR - Strengthen the argument

Critical Reasoning - Strengthen the argument resources.

Question format:

Which of the following strengthens/ supports/ most justifies/ helps…


Characteristics of Strengthen the conclusion question

• Ask to support conclusion/argument in any way- answer can support in a minor or major way!
• Stimulus will always be an argument- since you can only strengthen a conclusion, not a fact set. Identify, isolate and assess the premises and conclusion.
• Focus on conclusion.
• Information in stimulus is suspect. Reasoning errors are present which can be corrected by answer choice.
• Strong prephrases possible
• Answer choices can bring new information which is not present in stimulus.
• While an assumption is necessary to the argument, a strengthen answer might not be essential for the argument to be true.
• The correct answer will , at least somewhat, venture outside the scope of the immediate argument (i.e. introduce something new)

How to strengthen?

• Identify the conclusion – your answer choice should help the author and his conclusion
• Personalize the argument- place yourself inside the situation and think how you will react.
• Look for weaknesses in the argument – any gap, hole- that is tailor made to be eliminated as a correct strengthen answer.
• An answer that highlights an assumption of the author will also strengthen the author’s conclusion
• If the argument stimulus talks of a survey, poll- any answer choice which highlights its soundness or establishes its credibility will be correct.
• Correct answer can strengthen just a little or a lot!

Correct answer will strengthen by:

• Fixing a weakness of the conclusion
• Validate an assumption made by argument
• Introduce additional supporting evidence

Incorrect answer types:

• Opposite answers: Weaken
• Shell Game answers: idea form stimulus altered a little to be wrong
• Out of scope answer: miss the point/conclusion

Whenever a stimulus starts with word ‘Advertisement:’ it will have flawed logic. Be prepared to look out for the gap and address that.

Causality and Strengthen Question

• Eliminate alternate causes
• Show that when the cause occurs, effect occurs
• Show that when the effect is there, cause has occurred
• Show that reverse is not true
• Show that statistical data behind the cause effect conclusion is correct
• Show that when cause doesn’t occur, effect doesn’t occur

In StrnegthenX questions, correct answer choice will mostly have no effect on the argument, or will be out of scope. Be cautious sometimes the answer choice which strengthens the argument is wrongly selected if it strengthens by eliminating an alternate cause which doesn’t occur in stimulus. There is tendency to think that it is out of scope and doesn’t strengthen. E.g. in a question that argues that amphibian population is decreasing because of ozone depletion, an answer choice that their natural habitat is not depleting is not out of scope- but strengthening by eliminating alternate cause of fall in population


BEST APPROACH: SIMPLIFY THE ARGUMENT INTO 1-2 STATEMENTS, and apply choice ONLY to simplified argument. Many choices that seemed relevant otherwise will now not be relevant![/textarea]

GMATPREP EXAMPLE

Q. Excavation of the ancient city of Kourion on the island of Cyprus revealed a pattern of debris and collapsed buildings typical of towns devestated by earthquakes. Archaeologists have hypothesized that the destruction was due to a major earthquake known to have occured near the island in A.D. 365. Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the archaeologists' hypothesis?
(A) Bronze ceremonial drinking vessals that are often found in graves dating from years preceding and following A.D. 365 were also found in several graves near Kourion.
(B) No coins minted after A.D. 365 were foundin Kourion, but coins minted before that year were found in abundance
(C) Most modern histories of Cyprus mention that an earthquake occured near the island in A.D. 365.
(D) Several small statues carved in styles current in Cyprus in the century between A.D. 300 and 400 were found in Kourion.
(E) Stone inscriptions in a form of the Greek alphabet that was definitely used in Cyrpus after A.D. 365 were found in Kourion


Notes Credit: Vivesomnium, Ron Purewal, Powerscore CR Bible, GMATPrep 2.0

Strengthen/Weaken Resources

• How to Get CR Weaken Right Every Time - Manhattan GMAT
• Strengthen Strategy and Set
• Weaken Strategy and Set
• An Architect's Look at Critical Reasoning - VeritasPrep Director Bryan Galvin makes it impossible for anyone to miss a CR question