In a survey of undergraduates, two-fifths admitted to having cheated

Question

In a survey of undergraduates, two-fifths admitted to having cheated on an exam at least once during their education. However, the survey may underestimate the proportion of undergraduates who have cheated, because ____________.

Which of the following best completes the passage above?

(A) some undergraduates who have cheated at least once might have claimed on the survey never to have cheated

(B) some undergraduates who have never cheated might have claimed on the survey to have cheated

(C) some undergraduates who claimed on the survey to have cheated at least once may have cheated on multiple occasions throughout their education

(D) some undergraduates who claimed on the survey to have cheated at least once may have been answering honestly

(E) some students who are not undergraduates have probably cheated at least once during their education

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dhart · Answer

the correct answer looks A,

A) people who have cheated once can again be dishonest finding it to be not morally wrong or something, Underestimates . Right !

(B) some undergraduates who have never cheated might have claimed on the survey to have cheated. Overestimates

(C) some undergraduates who claimed on the survey to have cheated at least once may have cheated on multiple occasions throughout their education. Extra information

(D) some undergraduates who claimed on the survey to have cheated at least once may have been answering honestly. this just gives no. of ppl whoc polled correctly

(E) some students who are not undergraduates have probably cheated at least once during their education . this people are extra , we want survey estimate of undergraduates

odionam · Answer

survey may underestimate means some no. not presented why not it might be the case that some people are not telling truth that they cheated once but said never cheated so option A justify this reasoning

Vivek1707 · Answer

A. Looks correct, some students may have lied and denied cheating. That would make the reported percentage lower than the true percentage.
B. If anything, this would overestimate the number of students who cheated.
C. The survey asks whether they cheated, not how many times. Multiple incidents don't change the proportion.
D. Honest responses don't explain why the survey would underestimate the true figure.
E. The survey is only about undergraduates, so students outside that group are irrelevant.

officiisnobis · Answer

We need support for - However, the survey may underestimate the proportion of undergraduates who have cheated
A - Correct Answer
B - Seems like weakener
C - Irrelevant because proportion will not change
D - Irrelevant because if it is honest the it will not be underestimated 
E - Irrelevant

Minka99 · Answer

Two-fifths of the undergraduates admitted to cheating. We are attempting to find an answer in which the number of undergraduates that cheated is greater than what the survey shows, to prove the assumption that the survey's results are much too conservative.
A - correct (states exactly that - more students have cheated than reported)
B - weakener (would prove that less students cheated than reported)
C - irrelevant (whether a single student cheated only once or 100 times, it is still JUST one student cheating)
D - irrelevant (does not explain why the assumption on the survey underestimating the result exists)
E - out of scope (we are limiting our realm of problem solving to the survey of undergraduates, anyone else is not considered)

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation:

A

Step 1: Identify the Question Type

Here, we have an Inference question that asks us to complete the final sentence of a brief argument.

Step 2: Untangle the Stimulus

The portion of the sentence we need to complete begins with the keyword “because.” That tells us that whatever is to fill in the blank must provide evidence for what came before it in the sentence. The author’s conclusion is that the survey may have underestimated the proportion of undergraduates who cheated. We know from the first sentence that two-fifths of the students reported having cheated at least once. The author implies that there are additional unreported cheaters out there.

Step 3: Predict the Answer

Our prediction cannot be too specific, but its criteria are crystal clear. The one correct answer will provide a reason to think that there are additional, unreported cheaters among the undergraduate population.

Step 4: Evaluate the Choices

(A) is a perfect match for our prediction: some undergrads may have cheated but lied about it on the survey. If we were looking for a reason why the survey might overestimate the proportion of undergrads cheating, (B) would be correct. (C) refers to multiple cases of cheating per student; the survey is only dealing with the proportion of students who have cheated at least once. (D) gives a reason why we might believe the survey is accurate, which is the opposite of what we want, and (E) introduces students who are not undergrads, which is out of the scope of the survey.

Choice (A) is correct.

In a survey of undergraduates, two-fifths admitted to having cheated

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

­In a survey of undergraduates, two-fifths admitted to having cheated

Prep Toolkit

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

In a survey of undergraduates, two-fifths admitted to having cheated