During his three years in office, the governor of a state

Question

During his three years in office, the governor of a state has frequently been accused of having sexist attitudes toward women. Yet he has filled five of the nineteen vacant high-level positions in his administration with women appointees, all of whom are still serving. This shows that the governor is not sexist.

Which of the following statements, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion above?

A. One of the women appointed by the governor to a high-level position is planning to
 resign her post.
B. The platform of the governorâ€™s political party required him to appoint at least five 
 women to high-level positions.
C. Forty-seven percent of the women who voted in the state gubernatorial election three
 years ago voted for the governor
D. A governor of a neighboring state recently appointed seven women to high-level 
 positions
E. The governor appointed tow Black Americans, tow Hispanic Americans, and one Asian American to high-level positions in his administration.

Vithal · Answer

No doubts about B

Will explain if anyone differs

SmashingGrace · Answer

It seems like B to me. The governor had to do assign five women; if that were in his platform, he has no choice regarding that.

A. - who knows why she're resigning, maybe it's for personal reasons, nothing to do with the governor. Maybe after she leaves, he'll nominate another woman...

C. - this only strengthens the conclusion: if women vote for him, they must like him and wouldn't accuse him of being sexist during the following three years

D. - maybe, a long shot - does cast some doubt, but nothing really substantial - after all 5 vs 7 isn't that much of a difference

E. - out of scope, we're not talking about discrimination in general, but specifically about discrimination against women

afife76 · Answer

I think it is B. As choice B says that it was not the governor's choice to assign women but he was asked to do so by his political party..In this case, he might as well be indeed sexist towards women ..

None of the other choices sound correct to me..Agree with SmashingGraces's explanations.

dj · Answer

with the B crowd. nothing else to add.

srijay007 · Answer

B is correct
Others either strengthen the arg or are out of scope

manan · Answer

no doubtys about B

mba · Answer

I tend to differ here:

The conclusion is: "This shows government is not sexist".

Now consider (B), "He needs to appoint atleast 5 women". Which means he could have appointed more than five but he only appointed bare minimum, hence he is not sexist. In other words it stregthen the conclusion.

Though I can't argue which other choice fit the bill!!!

SmashingGrace · Answer

mba, 

 Which of the following statements, if true, would most seriously  weaken  the conclusion above? 

The conclusion: "The governor is not sexist"

We need to prove the stem: "The governor is sexist"

He is sexist, if he did just the bare minimum, see?

mba · Answer

I totally misread the question :oops:

Yeah (B) it is.

mba · Answer

I totally misread the Q,

Yeah! (B) is best.

Paul · Answer

B with the crowd. That was easy (22sec)

During his three years in office, the governor of a state

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards