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callmeDP can you explain the below?
In the original Manhattan question, option C is stated as the below:

C)provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its potential benefits
I would like to understand where the potential benefits are being highlighted in Mary's argument?

All she does is criticize Jim's argument.
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callmeDP can you explain the below?
In the original Manhattan question, option C is stated as the below:

C)provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its potential benefits
I would like to understand where the potential benefits are being highlighted in Mary's argument?

All she does is criticize Jim's argument.

carouselambra, hey mate

I believe, the sentence C)provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its potential benefits

meant potential benefits which are mentioned in Jim's argument, ie it will help the US government to cut down losses by stopping the production of coins.

And you are right that Mary does not mention any potential benefits, she is just playing the role of opposing Jim's argument.

And I guess based on our SC understanding the "its" pronoun, cannot take possessive noun but regardless this is what the author of the question, I suppose, meant.

Hope it helps. Let me know if it doesn't.
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Jim: The United States Mint has recently announced that the rising cost of raw copper, nickel, and zinc has pushed the cost of manufacturing each penny and nickel to more than 1 cent and 5 cents respectively. In addition, there are very few, if any, items that can be purchased for 5 cents, and virtually none that can be purchased for a penny. Since it appears that both the penny and the nickel no longer provide a necessary function in today’s economy, I propose that the government simply stop minting the coins at a loss and declare the base unit of U.S. currency to be the dime.

Mary: Don’t be silly. This would mean that all prices would round up to the nearest dime and nobody would go for that. There is simply no way that Congress would approve, much less consider, such an unpopular measure.

In her response to Jim, Mary does all of the following EXCEPT:

(A) Makes an assumption about how Jim’s proposal would affect prices.

(B) Implies that Congressional approval is necessary for Jim’s proposal to take effect.

(C) Provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its justification.

(D) Assumes that Congress will never approve a policy that has little public support.

(E) Attempts to undermine all or some of the premises upon which Jim justifies his proposal.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



Jim initially presents two premises:

1) it costs more to make a penny and a nickel than their face value; and

2) there is little that can be bought for a penny or a nickel.

He goes on to opine that the coins no longer provide any necessary function in the economy, then concludes with a proposal to remove the coins from circulation and declare the basic unit of American currency to be 10 cents.

Mary responds by making several assumptions about the practical effects of the plan, implying that such a policy could never be implemented.

(A) All prices rounding up to the nearest dime would certainly be a negative consequence from a consumer viewpoint, and this contention is not presented anywhere in the passage as a statement of fact; it is simply an assumption made by Mary.

(B) By asserting that Congress would not approve such a proposal, Mary implies that such approval is necessary in order to implement Jim’s plan.

(C) Mary provides an argument that such a proposal would have little practical chance of being implemented because of its unpopularity, which in fact is not necessarily correlated with whether the proposal would save money.

(D) Despite the proposal's obvious monetary benefit, Mary states that "Congress would never approve such an unpopular measure." Mary is assuming Congress will think the popularity of the measure is more important than the potential monetary benefit.

(E) CORRECT. Mary’s response is based on her assertion that Congress would not approve Jim’s proposal because she assumes that it would be extremely unpopular. She does not attack or even mention any of Jim’s premises underlying his proposal.
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Jim: premise 1. The United States Mint has recently announced that the rising cost of raw copper,nickel, and zinc has pushed the cost of manufacturing each penny and nickel to more than 1 cent and 5 cents respectively.
premise.2. In addition, there are very few, if any, items that can be purchased for 5 cents, and virtually none that can be purchased for a penny.
premise 3. It appears that both the penny and the nickel no longer provide a necessary function in today’s economy.

CONCLUSION...- I propose that the government simply stop minting the coins at a loss and declare the base unit of U.S. currency to be the dime.

Mary: PREMISE 1. This would mean that all prices would round up to the nearest dime and nobody would go for that.

PREMISE 2. There is simply no way that Congress would approve, much less consider, such an unpopular measure.
CONCLUSION- Don’t be silly.


In her response to Jim, Mary does all of the following EXCEPT:
A) Makes an assumption about how Jim’s proposal would affect prices.... NO...SHE DOES THIS...SEE MARY'S PREMISE 1...
b) Implies that Congressional approval is necessary for Jim’s proposal to take effect... NO..SHE DOES THIS...SEE MARY'S PREMISE 2...
c) Provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its justification... NO.SHE DOES THIS...SEE MARY'S PREMISE 2[color=#ed1c24]
d) Assumes that Congress will never approve a policy that has little public support.....[color=#ed1c24]. NO...SHE DOES THIS...SEE MARY'S PREMISE 2....

e) Attempts to undermine all or some of the premises upon which Jim justifies his proposal.... CORRECT ANSWER...NOWHERE HAS SHE QUESTIONED OR UNDERMINED JIM'S PREMISES( SEE ABOVE)....




Kudos = Thanks

THANKS FOR THE EXPLANATION.
I HAVE ONE QUERY:
Jim said that both the penny and the nickel no longer provide a necessary function in today’s economy.
And Mary said that This would mean that all prices would round up to the nearest dime ..........so cant we say that Penny and Nickel are still providing necessary function in economy by keeping the prices from rounding up to the nearest dime??...........and thus Mary is questioning the premise of Jim??
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Jim: premise 1. The United States Mint has recently announced that the rising cost of raw copper,nickel, and zinc has pushed the cost of manufacturing each penny and nickel to more than 1 cent and 5 cents respectively.
premise.2. In addition, there are very few, if any, items that can be purchased for 5 cents, and virtually none that can be purchased for a penny.
premise 3. It appears that both the penny and the nickel no longer provide a necessary function in today’s economy.

CONCLUSION...- I propose that the government simply stop minting the coins at a loss and declare the base unit of U.S. currency to be the dime.

Mary: PREMISE 1. This would mean that all prices would round up to the nearest dime and nobody would go for that.

PREMISE 2. There is simply no way that Congress would approve, much less consider, such an unpopular measure.
CONCLUSION- Don’t be silly.


In her response to Jim, Mary does all of the following EXCEPT:
A) Makes an assumption about how Jim’s proposal would affect prices.... NO...SHE DOES THIS...SEE MARY'S PREMISE 1...
b) Implies that Congressional approval is necessary for Jim’s proposal to take effect... NO..SHE DOES THIS...SEE MARY'S PREMISE 2...
c) Provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its justification... NO.SHE DOES THIS...SEE MARY'S PREMISE 2[color=#ed1c24]
d) Assumes that Congress will never approve a policy that has little public support.....[color=#ed1c24]. NO...SHE DOES THIS...SEE MARY'S PREMISE 2....

e) Attempts to undermine all or some of the premises upon which Jim justifies his proposal.... CORRECT ANSWER...NOWHERE HAS SHE QUESTIONED OR UNDERMINED JIM'S PREMISES( SEE ABOVE)....




Kudos = Thanks

THANKS FOR THE EXPLANATION.
I HAVE ONE QUERY:
Jim said that both the penny and the nickel no longer provide a necessary function in today’s economy.
And Mary said that This would mean that all prices would round up to the nearest dime ..........so cant we say that Penny and Nickel are still providing necessary function in economy by keeping the prices from rounding up to the nearest dime??...........and thus Mary is questioning the premise of Jim??

Gknight5603, Mary does not call that function a necessary one. Keeping the prices low is always desirable from a consumer/micro standpoint, but I don't think it is a necessity. Happy to discuss this further, but the crux is that mary does not claim that those coins perform a necessary function. Hope this helps! :)
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(C) Provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its justification.
where does it mention it would be difficult to implement..

imo its a poor question with a few gaps
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Hi, can you pls help understand why C is wrong? Just because something is unpopular, how does that translate into it being difficult to implement? Am i missing something here?
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Jim: The United States Mint has recently announced that the rising cost of raw copper, nickel, and zinc has pushed the cost of manufacturing each penny and nickel to more than 1 cent and 5 cents respectively. In addition, there are very few, if any, items that can be purchased for 5 cents, and virtually none that can be purchased for a penny. Since it appears that both the penny and the nickel no longer provide a necessary function in today’s economy, I propose that the government simply stop minting the coins at a loss and declare the base unit of U.S. currency to be the dime.

Mary: Don’t be silly. This would mean that all prices would round up to the nearest dime and nobody would go for that. There is simply no way that Congress would approve, much less consider, such an unpopular measure.

In her response to Jim, Mary does all of the following EXCEPT:

(A) Makes an assumption about how Jim’s proposal would affect prices.

(B) Implies that Congressional approval is necessary for Jim’s proposal to take effect.

(C) Provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its justification.

(D) Assumes that Congress will never approve a policy that has little public support.

(E) Attempts to undermine all or some of the premises upon which Jim justifies his proposal.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



Jim initially presents two premises:

1) it costs more to make a penny and a nickel than their face value; and

2) there is little that can be bought for a penny or a nickel.

He goes on to opine that the coins no longer provide any necessary function in the economy, then concludes with a proposal to remove the coins from circulation and declare the basic unit of American currency to be 10 cents.

Mary responds by making several assumptions about the practical effects of the plan, implying that such a policy could never be implemented.

(A) All prices rounding up to the nearest dime would certainly be a negative consequence from a consumer viewpoint, and this contention is not presented anywhere in the passage as a statement of fact; it is simply an assumption made by Mary.

(B) By asserting that Congress would not approve such a proposal, Mary implies that such approval is necessary in order to implement Jim’s plan.

(C) Mary provides an argument that such a proposal would have little practical chance of being implemented because of its unpopularity, which in fact is not necessarily correlated with whether the proposal would save money.

(D) Despite the proposal's obvious monetary benefit, Mary states that "Congress would never approve such an unpopular measure." Mary is assuming Congress will think the popularity of the measure is more important than the potential monetary benefit.

(E) CORRECT. Mary’s response is based on her assertion that Congress would not approve Jim’s proposal because she assumes that it would be extremely unpopular. She does not attack or even mention any of Jim’s premises underlying his proposal.
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This is also a must be true question in the sense that ALL the answer choices must be present in the passage but one. Of course, the citation could be explicitly said or implied.

If you take a look to the following

Mary: Don’t be silly. This would mean that all prices would round up to the nearest dime and nobody would go for that. There is simply no way that Congress would approve, much less consider, such an unpopular measure.

In her response to Jim, Mary does all of the following EXCEPT:


In Mary response, we have clearly TWO elements stated: the prices would go up and the parliament or congress will never approve such measure


In C we have

(C) Provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its justification.

We do not have ANY information, in clear or assumed or implied, to tell us if this process would be cumbersome, difficult, or impossible to realize.

It is not related to unpopular or less. Simply there is NO CLUE if the process is feasible or not. Therefore C is not mentioned and as such is the wrong answer.

I hope this helps
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That makes a lot of sense! Thank you
carcass
This is also a must be true question in the sense that ALL the answer choices must be present in the passage but one. Of course, the citation could be explicitly said or implied.

If you take a look to the following

Mary: Don’t be silly. This would mean that all prices would round up to the nearest dime and nobody would go for that. There is simply no way that Congress would approve, much less consider, such an unpopular measure.

In her response to Jim, Mary does all of the following EXCEPT:


In Mary response, we have clearly TWO elements stated: the prices would go up and the parliament or congress will never approve such measure


In C we have

(C) Provides a reason why Jim’s proposal would be difficult to implement, regardless of its justification.

We do not have ANY information, in clear or assumed or implied, to tell us if this process would be cumbersome, difficult, or impossible to realize.

It is not related to unpopular or less. Simply there is NO CLUE if the process is feasible or not. Therefore C is not mentioned and as such is the wrong answer.

I hope this helps
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