What if people who assign to themself easy task really think that this is fair? And what if another group really think that assigning easy task is unfair? In this case we can say that experiment was wrong because we pick wrong people in groups (selective bias). Therefore conclusion is wrong: people don't apply weaker moral standards to themselves.

But if people from first group were placed in second group and said that assigning easy task to themself is wrong, than conclusion is correct: people change moral standard according to situation.


(A) At least some volunteers who said they had acted fairly in choosing the easy task would have said that it was unfair for someone else to do so.
This answer gives us example in which people from first group change their mind according to situation.

(B) The most moral choice for the volunteers would have been to have the computer assign the two tasks randomly.
we don't need to decide what is most moral choice.

(C) There were at least some volunteers who were assigned to do the hard task and felt that the assignment was unfair.
We need to know about people who made assignment and not about who was assigned.

(D) On average, the volunteers to whom the scenario was described were more accurate in their moral judgments than the other volunteers were.
This variant is tricky because it is easy weakener and we tend to pick it in case when we forget about question.
This is weakener because if first group was inaccurate then they didn't lye but just was inaccurate. So we can infer that first group do not apply weaker moral standards to themselves.

(E) At least some volunteers given the choice between assigning the tasks themselves and having the computer assign them felt that they had made the only fair choice available to them.
The main question how they named their actions later, not what they think before making of choice
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In an experiment, each volunteer was allowed to choose between an easy task and a hard task and was told that another volunteer would do the other task. Each volunteer could also choose to have a computer assign the two tasks randomly. Most volunteers chose the easy task for themselves and under questioning later said they had acted fairly. But when the scenario was described to another group of volunteers, almost all said choosing the easy task would be unfair. This shows that most people apply weaker moral standards to themselves than to others.

Which of the following is an assumption required by this argument?

(A) At least some volunteers who said they had acted fairly in choosing the easy task would have said that it was unfair for someone else to do so.
(B) The most moral choice for the volunteers would have been to have the computer assign the two tasks randomly.
(C) There were at least some volunteers who were assigned to do the hard task and felt that the assignment was unfair.
(D) On average, the volunteers to whom the scenario was described were more accurate in their moral judgments than the other volunteers were.
(E) At least some volunteers given the choice between assigning the tasks themselves and having the computer assign them felt that they had made the only fair choice available to them.

The choice is between A and E:

E seems tricky so lets break it down
(At least) Some volunteers felt that they made the only fair choice available to them (given two choices: picking on their own and assigning or letting the computer assign)
Negate it:
None (of the volunteers) felt that they made the only fair choice available to them.
 None felt they made the fair choice between assigning and letting the computer assign the task
Does it tell anything about their moral?  whether they think they picked the easy task and gave the tough task to someone else? Not clearly.
So without negation:
At least say, 1-10 out of 100 volunteers feel that they made the only fair choice available to them  which is:
1. Choosing which to assign to whom  does it tell us whether they chose the easy one? Or the tough one? What is THEIR fair choice? Doesn’t tell anything about morality
2. Letting the computer choose  Weaker one who got? Tougher one who got? What do the volunteers feel about this? Does it portray their morality? No.

Option A:
Negate it:
None of the volunteers who said they had acted fairly in choosing the easy task would have said that it was unfair for someone else to do so  shows strong morality and no deviation. Means group 1 people when asked didnt reply as group 2 (weakens the conclusion)
Without negating it: Some, say 10 (it can be all 100 also) volunteers from group 1 (who participated in the experiment) switched their opinion when questioned on this and said, it would have been unfair to choose the easy task and give the hard task to someone else (but they themselves did it when they participated in the experiment)  Weaker moral standard for self and higher moral standard on others.
Closest to the right answer and hence OA - A

In an experiment, each volunteer was allowed to choose between an easy task and a hard task and was told that another volunteer would do the other task. Each volunteer could also choose to have a computer assign the two tasks randomly. Most volunteers chose the easy task for themselves and under questioning later said they had acted fairly. But when the scenario was described to another group of volunteers, almost all said choosing the easy task would be unfair. This shows that most people apply weaker moral standards to themselves than to others.

Which of the following is an assumption required by this argument?

(A) At least some volunteers who said they had acted fairly in choosing the easy task would have said that it was unfair for someone else to do so.

(B) The most moral choice for the volunteers would have been to have the computer assign the two tasks randomly.

(C) There were at least some volunteers who were assigned to do the hard task and felt that the assignment was unfair.

(D) On average, the volunteers to whom the scenario was described were more accurate in their moral judgments than the other volunteers were.

(E) At least some volunteers given the choice between assigning the tasks themselves and having the computer assign them felt that they had made the only fair choice available to them.


Type: Assumption
Boil It Down: Me: easy = fair, You: easy = unfair -> People apply weaker morals to self
Missing Information: Were there other factors?
Goal: Find the option that contains missing information required for this argument to work

Note: For efficiency on test day, we only need to apply The Opposite Test in Assumption Questions (to prove the option is required for the logic to work) on options that are in contention.

A) Absolutely! This argument REQUIRES the notion that at least some of the people who said they acted fairly in choosing the easy task, would have said it was unfair for other people to choose the easy task (and leave them with the harder task). Applying The Opposite Test (to prove that this option is required): No one who said they had acted fairly in choosing the easy task would have said that it was unfair for someone else to do so. The argument would be crushed, and thus this option is required.

B) The computer option is a side show not relevant to the argument at all. The part about the computer could have been left out entirely and the argument would remain exactly the same. We know why they added the computer dynamic to the question though: to be able to write a tempting distractor option like this.

C) Finding the hard task unfair is Out of Focus of the issue of whether choosing the easy task for yourself if fair. Therefore, this option is actually not something required for the argument to hold.

D) Accuracy of judgement is a non-factor since people believe they're accurate in their own judgments. Let's use the opposite test to prove that this option is not required: On average, the volunteers to whom the scenario was described were NOT more accurate in their moral judgments than the other volunteers were. As you can see, when we take the opposite, the argument can still stand. Gone.

E) The argument doesn't require volunteers to believe that they made the ONLY fair choice. The people who chose the easy task for themselves could have also considered assigning the task to the computer fair as well.


Bigger GMAT Perspective: On questions that seem more complex, it can be worth it to invest an extra 10-30 seconds to REALLY have a firm command of the prompt. You'll not only be able to select the right option but you'll also be able to make that time back by more swiftly moving through the options. A question like this also proves that skimming is the kiss of death. NEVER skim anything on the GMAT.
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premise : most people chose easy task. so the point is that when it comes to their own they choose easy task, but when asked to other volunteer they say that it's not fair. but they will chose easy task if that comes to that.

Pre-thinking : We are assuming that they are same set of people. what if other volunteer they say that it's not fair--> they choose hard task instead of easy ones. In that case we cann't say that most people apply weaker standard to themselves than to others.


Anything that shows that says that most people dont apply weaker standard to themselves than to others.

(A) At least some volunteers who said they had acted fairly in choosing the easy task would have said that it was unfair for someone else to do so. => negate that -> There were no volunteer --> who chose easy task --> but then also who said it is unfair to others.

if there are volunteers like that, then we can no longer say that most people apply weaker standard to themselves than to others.

In an experiment, each volunteer was allowed to choose between an easy task and a hard task and was told that another volunteer would do the other task. Each
volunteer could also choose to have a computer assign the two tasks randomly. Most volunteers chose the easy task for themselves and under questioning later
said they had acted fairly. But when the scenario was described to another group of volunteers, almost all said choosing the easy task would be unfair. This shows that
most people apply weaker moral standards to themselves than to others.

Which of the following is an assumption required by this argument?
(A) At least some volunteers who said they had acted fairly in choosing the easy task would have said that it was unfair for someone else to do so.
(B) The most moral choice for the volunteers would have been to have the computer assign the two tasks randomly.
(C) There were at least some volunteers who were assigned to do the hard task and felt that the assignment was unfair.
(D) On average, the volunteers to whom the scenario was described were more accurate in their moral judgments than the other volunteers were.
(E) At least some volunteers given the choice between assigning the tasks themselves and having the computer assign them felt that they had made
the only fair choice available to them.

Can someone explain the right answer.

Do not forget to give kudos, in case u liked the question
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Please explain the underlying assumption along with the pre-thinking that needs to be done here along with the answer POE.

Narrowed it down to A and D but I thought D was correct ...Why is D really wrong..... i am getting stumped at 700+ level Qs ..where is the best collection of GMAT CR 700+ OG Questions...

Dear Expert,

I have a query regarding the choice A. The author assume that the first group will respond the same way as the second group, that is why the author reach a conclusion from and for the two groups. Since the word ''some'' is related with more than zero quantity, I have two escenarios:

1- "Some" people of the first group range from 1% to 50%, this escenario does not match with the author conclusion (''most people''), so this assumption is not true.
2- ''Some" people of the first group range from 51% to 100%, this escenario matches with the author conclusion (''most people''), so this assumption is true.

Then, when a choice is partially true the choice is not true, so choice A is not true.

Please let me know where my reasoning is wrong.

Regards,

Responding to a pm:

Premises:
Volunteer chose easy task for himself and allotted the harder to the other instead of random allotment. They said they had acted fairly.
A second group of volunteers declared their actions unfair.

Conclusion: This shows that most people apply weaker moral standards to themselves than to others.

We are looking for an assumption i.e. a missing necessary premise.

The conclusion says that people apply weaker moral standards to themselves but stricter to others.

(A) At least some volunteers who said they had acted fairly in choosing the easy task would have said that it was unfair for someone else to do so.
Correct. We know that the first set of people said they had acted fairly while the second set had said that they had acted unfairly. But we are concluding that people apply different moral standards to themselves vs others. So we are assuming that the first set would have called the decision unfair for others and that the second would have called the decision fair for themselves. We are assuming that these are not just two sets of very different people who have different moral standards. For example, if the two sets of people belonged to two different communities in which moral standards were different, then our conclusion would fail. We are assuming that if the first set volunteers were in the shoes of the second set, they would behave similarly as did the second set.

(B) The most moral choice for the volunteers would have been to have the computer assign the two tasks randomly.
We are not asked to judge what is moral what is not. We are only asked to compare the moral standards people assign to themselves vs to others.

(C) There were at least some volunteers who were assigned to do the hard task and felt that the assignment was unfair.
Whether anyone was actually assigned the hard task, we don't know. It doesn't matter.

(D) On average, the volunteers to whom the scenario was described were more accurate in their moral judgments than the other volunteers were.
Again, we are not asked to judge what is moral what is not. We are only asked to compare the moral standards people assign to themselves vs to others.

(E) At least some volunteers given the choice between assigning the tasks themselves and having the computer assign them felt that they had made the only fair choice available to them.
We don't know whether they believe it was the only fair choice. All we know is that they said it was fair. We don't need to assume that they believed it was the only fair choice.

Answer (A)
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Hi LogicGuru1,
I like your approach, it is easier to understand.
I hope I can work out CR like you,
would you please share something ?

thanks a lot
Have a nice day
>_~