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I had selected C. I am aware that even C is wrong.
However this question needs some help in deciphering it further. When I deconstruct it, it is a argument which is mentioned by the Executive who vouches for change in the bid system as while bidding the contractor is aware that others will be bidding. So here on, what can we pre-think? I am quite blank on this space!
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I had selected C. I am aware that even C is wrong.
However this question needs some help in deciphering it further. When I deconstruct it, it is a argument which is mentioned by the Executive who vouches for change in the bid system as while bidding the contractor is aware that others will be bidding. So here on, what can we pre-think? I am quite blank on this space!

Hi ,

Premise 1-The process of submitting bids for architectural contracts should be restructured ,because when a contractor bids for a contract, the contractor is acutely aware that other contractors will be submitting bids for the same contract.

Conclusion: the amount of a bid is not an accurate gauge of how much a contract is actually worth.

it is given that contractor is not quoting amount what is required for project ...why so...one of the factor: To win the contract they will put less amount as many contractors are involved((( contractors know this fact))), there will be sense of insecurity that quotation amount of other contractor can be less than actual amount require to complete the project .its kind of competing with other contractors...So if contractor is not revealed that other contractor are involved then may be they will quote exact amount .
Above can be one of the reason , there can be many like that..

that is what D is saying ...
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Hello Guys,

Why can't A be the answer here?

Prethinking: - As BIDs are not accurate measure of the contracts; The BIDs are either over quoted or under quoted as BIDDERs know what other BIDDERs are going to BID for.

Option A straight away conveys the same Point

Option D says "Some" contractors base the amount on other factors; The statement also implies that "Some" contractors base their BID on the actual amount of work required. This is a 50:50 answer. Not sure if this is the correct assumption

Please let me know where I am going wrong
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pikolo2510
Hello Guys,

Why can't A be the answer here?

Prethinking: - As BIDs are not accurate measure of the contracts; The BIDs are either over quoted or under quoted as BIDDERs know what other BIDDERs are going to BID for.

Option A straight away conveys the same Point

Option D says "Some" contractors base the amount on other factors; The statement also implies that "Some" contractors base their BID on the actual amount of work required. This is a 50:50 answer. Not sure if this is the correct assumption

Please let me know where I am going wrong

Hi pikolo2510,

(A) cannot be the correct choice because this is an ASSUMPTION question. Therefore, information stated in the question cannot be the answer. Answer (A) is stated in the question. If this were an inference question, (A) could be a possible answer!

Does this help?

-- Just tagged you after nearly a year, haha
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pikolo2510
Hello Guys,

Why can't A be the answer here?

Prethinking: - As BIDs are not accurate measure of the contracts; The BIDs are either over quoted or under quoted as BIDDERs know what other BIDDERs are going to BID for.

Option A straight away conveys the same Point

Option D says "Some" contractors base the amount on other factors; The statement also implies that "Some" contractors base their BID on the actual amount of work required. This is a 50:50 answer. Not sure if this is the correct assumption

Please let me know where I am going wrong

Hi pikolo2510,

(A) cannot be the correct choice because this is an ASSUMPTION question. Therefore, information stated in the question cannot be the answer. Answer (A) is stated in the question. If this were an inference question, (A) could be a possible answer!

Does this help?

-- Just tagged you after nearly a year, haha

hhaha. Thanks man for the reply man

But I am still confused with this one. Don't you think the usage of "Some" in D is incorrect? Can you explain A vs D in some other words?
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nightblade354
Executive: The process of submitting bids for architectural contracts should be restructured because when a contractor bids for a contract, the contractor is acutely aware that other contractors will be submitting bids for the same contract. Therefore, the amount of a bid is not an accurate gauge of how much a contract is actually worth.


Conclusion is in blue

Diagram: Contractor knows they are bidding against each other -- leads to inaccurate price because they either short it or make it too large. Why is this? Because they are looking at other factors other than price. If they were looking at just the cost of the project, every bid would be fair and the same most likely

Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?


A. Contractors often charge outrageous amounts for even simple architectural projects. -- Negation: Contractors DO NOT often charge outrageous amounts for even simple architectural projects. So what? So they overcharge sometimes. They might undercharge sometimes. How does this break our conclusion? It doesn't.

D. Some architectural contractors base the amount of their bids on factors other than the amount of money necessary to complete the contract. -- Negation: No architectural contractors base the amount of their bids on factors other than the amount of money necessary to complete the contract. This says that they DO give an accurate gauge on cost and thus destroys the conclusion!

For negation: some -- none; some -- all
few -- most

Awesome explanation. Can't thank you enough
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GMATNinja VeritasKarishma PLEASE HELP ME HOW D can be assumed!!
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nightblade354
Executive: The process of submitting bids for architectural contracts should be restructured because when a contractor bids for a contract, the contractor is acutely aware that other contractors will be submitting bids for the same contract. Therefore, the amount of a bid is not an accurate gauge of how much a contract is actually worth.


Conclusion is in blue

Diagram: Contractor knows they are bidding against each other -- leads to inaccurate price because they either short it or make it too large. Why is this? Because they are looking at other factors other than price. If they were looking at just the cost of the project, every bid would be fair and the same most likely

Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?


A. Contractors often charge outrageous amounts for even simple architectural projects. -- Negation: Contractors DO NOT often charge outrageous amounts for even simple architectural projects. So what? So they overcharge sometimes. They might undercharge sometimes. How does this break our conclusion? It doesn't.

D. Some architectural contractors base the amount of their bids on factors other than the amount of money necessary to complete the contract. -- Negation: No architectural contractors base the amount of their bids on factors other than the amount of money necessary to complete the contract. This says that they DO give an accurate gauge on cost and thus destroys the conclusion!

For negation: some -- none; some -- all
few -- most

Can you please elaborate more on D..i cannot infer how D can be the answer
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Subanta
Executive: The process of submitting bids for architectural contracts should be restructured because when a contractor bids for a contract, the contractor is acutely aware that other contractors will be submitting bids for the same contract. Therefore, the amount of a bid is not an accurate gauge of how much a contract is actually worth.

Which of the following is an assumption made in drawing the conclusion above?


A. Contractors often charge outrageous amounts for even simple architectural projects.

B. An alternative method for awarding architectural contracts already exists.

C. Some contractors who compete for land management projects do so by systems other than submitting bids.

D. Some architectural contractors base the amount of their bids on factors other than the amount of money necessary to complete the contract.

E. The information provided to those who hire contractors is not sufficient for them to decide which contractor to hire.


A. No. In fact, the argument implies that architects are underselling themselves in order to win contracts.
B. No. Why else would the Executive be asking for a new process?
C. No. This is out of scope, since the executive is speaking about those contracts that do go through the bidding process.
D. Yes. If this were not the case, then contract bids would necessarily be accurate gauges of the contracts' worth.
E. No. The information is not at issue; the value of the contracts compared to the value of contract bids is.


When a contractor bids for a contract, he knows that other contractors are also bidding.
So the amount of a bid is not an accurate gauge of how much a contract is actually worth.

Conclusion: The process of submitting bids for architectural contracts should be restructured

We have an intermediate conclusion here: The amount of a bid is not an accurate gauge of how much a contract is actually worth.

We need an assumption.

A. Contractors often charge outrageous amounts for even simple architectural projects.

The argument only says that the amount bid is not a true reflection of how much a contract is actually worth. It doesn't assume that contractors charge too much.

B. An alternative method for awarding architectural contracts already exists.

Not an assumption of our argument. In fact our argument says that a new method is needed.

C. Some contractors who compete for land management projects do so by systems other than submitting bids.

Irrelevant to our argument

D. Some architectural contractors base the amount of their bids on factors other than the amount of money necessary to complete the contract.

Correct. To say that "amount of a bid is not an accurate gauge of how much a contract is actually worth", we need to assume that contractors base the amount of their bids on other factors (not amount required to do the work). If they were basing their bids on amount required, then the amount of the bid would be an accurate gauge of how much a contract is worth.

E. The information provided to those who hire contractors is not sufficient for them to decide which contractor to hire.

Irrelevant.

Answer (D)
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