In Brindon County, virtually all of the fasteners—such as nuts, bolts,

C is a possibility rather than a statement. "Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will no longer be". Negating C
C. Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will BE the ONLY significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops. >> Contradicts the premise.

E is left.

Sarai

I use negation a lot of times in assumption questions. Thats alright.

But what about weakening questions?
1. Can I use negation technique here?
2. What if negation of the assumption contradicts the premise? I believe premise are never questioned. Right??

thanks
mavrik

Hi Marvrik,
Your answer must NEVER counter a premise. Could you explain what you mean by negation though so that I can better answer your first question?

-Sarai

E is right here.

Given : In Simpler terms

Premises :
- Brindon Bolt Barn (BBB) satisfies all fastner needs of Brindon County firms
- Many firms have closed down. No new firms openend.

Conclusion : BBB's sale will sharply decline

Asuumption : BBB only deals with Brindon County firms

Lets see an choices:

A. Last year the Brindon Bolt Barn’s sales volume and revenue were significantly higher than they had been the previous year. >> This does not tell us why sales should decline this year.

B. The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year. >> One more premises. May be a supporting statement for conclusion. But not assumption.

C. Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will no longer be the only significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops. >> Out of scope

D. The Brindon Bolt Barn’s operating expenses have not increased this year. >> Out of scope

E. The Brindon Bolt Barn is not a company that gets the great majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County. >> this tells us that BBB does not do business with firms in other counties. Means BBB's sales highly depend on Brindon county firms. Correct one.

A. Last year the Brindon Bolt Barn’s sales volume and revenue were significantly higher than they had been the previous year.
Comparison should be between This year and last year, so out
B. The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year.
Can work as a strengthen option.Also if we will use ANT, then negate - This year W/MF have work greater than or equal to work last year.So in case of == conclusion still stands.
C. Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will no longer be the only significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops.
It will or will not that is OOS, as we care comparing sales and have to justify drop in sales.
D. The Brindon Bolt Barn’s operating expenses have not increased this year.
Sales vol. not equivalent to Ope. expenses.
E. The Brindon Bolt Barn is not a company that gets the great majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County.
That is the answer ,can use ANT also you will get it.

In Brindon County, virtually all of the fasteners—such as nuts, bolts, and screws—used by workshops and manufacturing firms have for several years been supplied by the Brindon Bolt Barn, a specialist wholesaler.
In recent months many of Brindon County’s workshops and manufacturing firms have closed down, and no new ones have opened.
Therefore, the Brindon Bolt Barn will undoubtedly show a sharp decline in sales volume and revenue for this year as compared to last year.

The argument depends on assuming which of the following?
B Vs E.

B. The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year.
[color=#ff0000]>> Even if its "same" the sharp decline would be there. So doesn't affect conclusion.
E. The Brindon Bolt Barn is not a company that gets the great majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County.

The confusion that might arise between E and B is easily solvable by proper negation technique:
B) The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open DON'T have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year.
This doesn't ruin the argument, since if they don't have a smaller, they might have the same volume and the the decline will not be sharp. On contrast, if the technique is used incorrectly, then the argument will be turned into LARGER volume, which might ruin the argument.

[quote="Madhavi1990"]

Premise 1. In Brindon County - workshops and manufacturing firms have for several years been supplied by the Brindon Bolt Barn, a specialist wholesaler.
Premise 2. In recent months many of Brindon County’s workshops and manufacturing firms have closed down, and no new ones have opened.

Conclusion . Therefore, the Brindon Bolt Barn will undoubtedly show a sharp decline in sales volume and revenue for this year as compared to last year.


Assumption
Since workshops and manufacturing firm are closed down In Brindon County it will impact Brindon Bolt Barn. That is only possible if they don't have sales outside Brindon County, which is what E is stating.

In Brindon County, virtually all of the fasteners—such as nuts, bolts, and screws—used by workshops and manufacturing firms have for several years been supplied by the Brindon Bolt Barn, a specialist wholesaler. In recent months many of Brindon County’s workshops and manufacturing firms have closed down, and no new ones have opened. Therefore, the Brindon Bolt Barn will undoubtedly show a sharp decline in sales volume and revenue for this year as compared to last year.

The argument depends on assuming which of the following?

A. Last year the Brindon Bolt Barn’s sales volume and revenue were significantly higher than they had been the previous year.
B. The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year.
C. Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will no longer be the only significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops.
D. The Brindon Bolt Barn’s operating expenses have not increased this year.
E. The Brindon Bolt Barn is not a company that gets the great majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County. -Correct

premise 1: BBB's supply fasteners to workshops and manufacturing firms.
premise 2: many workshops and firms have closed down.
conclusion: BBB sales and revenue will decline.

a) last year sales are not important, doesn't tell why this year sales and revenue should go down.

b) this can strengthen the conclusion. On negating "The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a no smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year." But this doesn't tell why the sales and revenue should not decline. There is a probability, so B eliminated.

c) out of scope.

d) out of scope.

e) correct answer. If BBB's get majority business from outside then the argument will collapse.

The simplified version of the passage is as follows:

BBB (Brindon Bolt Barn) supplies 'fasteners' to consumers (firms) in Brindon County. Many of these consumers have closed down; no new ones have opened. Therefore, BBB will loose a lot of revenue this year.

In order for the conclusion to hold, one must assume that BBB does not serve a market outside Brindon County. If BBB does serve an other market, that what happens in Brindon County may not significantly affect the overall sales for BBB.

(A) Last year the Brindon Bolt Barn’s sales volume and revenue were significantly higher than they had been the previous year. - knowing 'the difference in sales volumes' does not strengthen the conclusion drawn.

(B) The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year. - 'volume of work' is irrelevant to the conclusion

(C) Soon the Brindon Bolt Barn will no longer be the only significant supplier of fasteners to Brindon County’s workshops. - the passage does not talk about other suppliers. Hence, (C) is out of scope.

(D) The Brindon Bolt Barn’s operating expenses have not increased this year. - Irrelevant to the conclusion drawn.

(E) The Brindon Bolt Barn is not a company that gets the great majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County. - This is what we are looking for. Hence, (E) is the right answer choice.

I was confused between B and E. But I had read somewhere that if you are confused between 2 option then use negation.

Negate B- The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open will not have have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year. It means that the their volume of work will be greater this year than last year.

Say, the firms that have remained open had placed an order of $ 100 with Brindon Bolt Barn last year and this year because of increase in volume, those firms may place an order of $105 or $10000. We don't know. Whatever order is placed with Brindon Bolt barn because of increase in their volume of work, how much impact will be created on Sales and revenue of Brindon Bolt barn is uncertain. Thus definitely choice B is not an option.

Answer- E

GMATNinja VeritasKarishma

Attention Experts !

B sounds absolutely fine.

x has A,B,C,D,E as its clients. B,C,D,E Left the area ( it can also be because E pushed them out of business)

Now A gives Brindon exact or excess Revenue and Sales.

LOOK at option E

Even though X has business from other places, overall num will still be low , unless these other companies pay extra or buy extra.

To get from the fact that:

The majority of the businesses that buy the nuts and bolts from the company have gone out of business (and therefore won’t be buying the nuts and bolts this year)


To the conclusion that:

The company will see a significant decrease in revenues


The author absolutely must assume that the business it is losing will not be counteracted or outweighed by other business it may receive elsewhere.


B tells us that the companies still operating will buy fewer nuts and bolts this year then they did last year. Does the author absolutely have to assume this to get from the supporting facts to the Conclusion?

No, it is not a required and necessary assumption. Even if these remaining businesses buy at a level that is equal to last year’s level, the conclusion is still supported.


Essentially, we have the fact that there are many client-companies going out of business in one particular county. With or without the information in B, this fact still provides support that the company will see a significant decrease in revenue.

However, the facts support the conclusion only in the scenario in which the company does NOT get a majority of its business from outside this 1 county.

If the company did get the majority of its business from outside this one county, then even if ALL of the companies shut down within that one county, it still will likely not have a “significant effect” on revenue.

Answer B would be good information if we were seeking to strengthen the argument. However, for the conclusion to be made based on the explicit supporting facts, the author need not assume the information in answer B.

If instead of what is stated in B, we were told that these remaining business will NOT significantly increase their purchases, then this would be a required assumption.

Without assuming the above fact, you could not argue that the company will experience a significant decrease in revenue.

I hope some of that helped?



Posted from my mobile device

Let me talk about options B and E.

Option B can be the CORRECT answer if I make the following change:

(B) The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open DO NOT have a significantly bigger volume of work to do this year than they did last year.

The negation of this option would be:

The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a significantly bigger volume of work to do this year than they did last year.

In such a case, these firms may end up compensating for the firms that closed down, and thus, the Brindon Bolt Barn may not see any decline. Thus, the argument breaks down.

Now, let's come back to the original option B:

(B) The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year.

This option is a good strengthener but not an assumption. The only way to differentiate strengtheners from assumptions is the NEGATION technique. Without negation, you may end up considering strengtheners assumptions.

Now, this option is not an assumption since its negation doesn't break down the argument. The negation of this option is:

~B: The workshops and manufacturing firms that have remained open DO NOT have a smaller volume of work to do this year than they did last year.

This means that they have the same volume of work or a higher volume of work. Since the negation allows the possibility of the "same volume" of work - a possibility that doesn't break down the argument - this option is not an assumption.

*************

Let me explain the importance of words by talking about option E. Let's say I remove the word "sharp" from the conclusion of the argument. In this case, option E will become INCORRECT.

Surprised?

Let me explain.

In this case, the conclusion is:

the Brindon Bolt Barn will undoubtedly show a decline in sales volume and revenue for this year as compared to last year.

Now, let's consider the negation of option E:

~E: The Brindon Bolt Barn is a company that gets the great majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County.

Even if the BBB gets the majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County, we can still expect some decline in sales volume and revenue for this year, given that many of Brindon County’s workshops and manufacturing firms have closed down. If your one avenue of revenue goes down, it is sensible to expect some decline in revenue. Right?

Thus, the negation of option E will not break down the argument in this case. Therefore, option E will not be an assumption in this case.
*****

Now, option E is correct in case of the original passage because the conclusion mentions "sharp decline". Now, if the BBB gets the majority of its business from customers outside Brindon County, we don't expect a "sharp decline" in sales volume and revenue for this year.

You see how a single word can change the whole game.

Here's an article that discusses more examples of how small changes can make or break options: https://gmatclub.com/forum/what-defines ... 43346.html

I am confused between B and E. I can't decide which option to choose. I feel both options miss some vital information which the other option takes care of. What am I missing?

Thank you in advance