John: You told me once that no United States citizen who supports

Question

John : You told me once that no United States citizen who supports union labor should buy an imported car. Yet you are buying an Alma. Since Alma is one of the biggest makers of imports, I infer that you no longer support unions.

Harry : I still support labor unions. Even though Alma is a foreign car company, the car I am buying, the Alma Deluxe, is designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States.

Harry's method of defending his purchase of an Alma is to

(A) disown the principle he formerly held
(B) show that John's argument involves a false unstated assumption
(C) contradict John's conclusion without challenging John's reasoning in drawing that conclusion
(D) point out that one of the statements John makes in support of his argument is false
(E) claim that his is a special case in which the rule need not apply

ID: 500124
CR21661.01
Verbal Review 2020 NEW QUESTION

Evaluation of a Plan

Situation 
Harry has bought a car manufactured by Alma, a company among the largest makers of cars imported to the United States. From that fact John infers that Harry no longer holds a principle he formerly professed: that nobody who supports U.S. union labor should buy an imported car. Harry responds by clarifying that the Alma Deluxe he is buying is entirely a U.S. product.

Reasoning 
 What method has Harry used to show that his purchasing an Alma is not inconsistent with his principles?  Harry does this by showing that John is incorrectly assuming that the car Harry is purchasing has been imported.

(A) Harry does not disown the principle he formerly held; rather, he tries to show that his purchase is consistent with it.

(B) Correct . John mistakenly assumes—without asserting—that the Alma that Harry is buying must be an imported car, and Harry indicates that this assumption is false.

(C) Harry challenges John's conclusion but he also challenges John's reasoning, by indicating that it relies on a false unstated assumption.

(D) John does not state the assumption that Harry indicates is false, but Harry recognizes that the assumption in question is unstated.

(E) Harry does not claim this; he claims, rather, that the new Alma he is purchasing is not imported and so his purchase does not violate his principle concerning union labor.

KarishmaB · Accepted Answer

We need to read the stated principle carefully: No United States citizen who supports union labor should buy an IMPORTED CAR.

John:
You are buying an Alma. 
Alma is one of the biggest makers of imports
Conclusion - You no longer support unions.

Harry:
Alma is a foreign car company
The car I am buying is made in US
Conclusion - I still support unions

What is Harry's method of defending?

A. disown the principle he formerly held

He does not disown the principle.

B. show that John's argument involves a false unstated assumption

Correct - He shows that John's argument assumes that because Alma is a foreign car company, the car Harry is buying is an imported car. This is false because the car Harry is buying is made in US. So Harry shows that John's argument involves a false unstated assumption.

C. contradict John's conclusion without challenging John's reasoning in drawing that conclusion

He does contradict John's conclusion but he does not give in to John's reasoning. He challenges John's reasoning by saying that foreign car company does not imply "imported car". The car can still be US made.

D. point out that one of the statements John makes in support of his argument is false

No. Harry does not point out that John's any statement is false. All John's statements are accepted by Harry but he points out a false assumption John makes in his reasoning.

E. claim that his is a special case in which the rule need not apply

No. He does not claim that the rule need not apply to him. He applies the rule to himself too. He clarifies that his car is indeed US made and not imported.

MikeScarn · Answer

Sure. Let's look at (B) and (E), side by side. I'll start with (E). But first, let's break down the stem in super simple terms, so that we are all on the same page. John: You told me that Americans who support Labor Unions shouldn't buy imports. You are buying an Alma. Alma makes a lot of imports. Therefore, I don't think you support Labor Unions anymore. Harry: Oh, I still support Labor Unions, the Alma that I am buying is actually not imported. Harry's method of defending his purchase of an Alma is to Tempting answer... John let's us know that Alma manufactures a lot of imports. However, Harry let's us know that the Alma that he is purchasing is actually not an import. Does that mean that Harry's purchase is a special case ? Eh, maybe. We don't really know how rare it is that Alma makes cars in the U.S. For all we know, they may make just as many domestically as they do internationally. We don't know! All we do know is that Alma is one of the biggest manufacturers of imports. What I'm getting at is that I think this answer choice is trying to get us to assume something that we have no business assuming... Speaking of "assumptions", didn't one of the answer choices mention an "assumption?" Ahh, yes. Here we go. Harry is saying: John, just because Alma manufactures a lot of imports, doesn't mean that my Alma is an import. I still support Labor Unions, dude. I hope this helps. Excuse my overly informal language

krazzysaad · Answer

A. Extreme Decision. Wrong
B. Good choice, let's keep going.
C. He does challenge John's position
D. Its hard to pin point any statement, at best we can say the logic derived in incorrect
E. Extreme Decision. Wrong

(B) is the only relevant option and is our answer.

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Cheers to studying!!

shridhar786 · Answer

John: You told me once that no United States citizen who supports union labor should buy an imported car. Yet you are buying an Alma. Since Alma is one of the biggest makers of imports, I infer that you no longer support unions.

jhon conclude that harry no longer supports the union because
Harry is buying alma and alma is one of the biggest makers of imports
by saying this John assumes that the car that harry is buying is imported (not made is united states)

Harry: I still support labor unions. Even though Alma is a foreign car company, the car I am buying, the Alma Deluxe, is designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States.

in this statement, harry refutes that assumption by saying the car he is buying is made in the United States

(B) is the correct answer

PriyankaPalit7 · Answer

Harry's method of defending his purchase of an Alma is to

Answer: B

A. disown the principle he formerly held -  No one disowned any principle here

B. show that John's argument involves a false unstated assumption -   Because Alma is a large importer, John assumed that Harry was buying an imported car from Alma. This assumption is false. 
 Just because Alma is an importer, it is not necessary that the car that Harry is buying is also imported. Harry points out this mistake in assumption

C. contradict John's conclusion without challenging John's reasoning in drawing that conclusion -  Harry does challenge John's reason by challenging his assumption.
 
D. point out that one of the statements John makes in support of his argument is false -  Harry did not falsify any statement that John said. John did not specifically say that Harry was buying an imported car. John simply assumed that Harry was buying an imported car from Alma because Alma is a huge importer.

E. claim that his is a special case in which the rule need not apply -  No exceptions or special cases were pointed out. Harry only negated John's assumption.

elifceylan · Answer

Can somebody please explain why E is wrong? The explanations stated above weren't much convincing since he mentions a spacial case might not necessarily applies for John's assertion. Thanks

Tanchat · Answer

Dear expert,

I have 2 questions

1) what does a false unstated assumption? John literally stated the assumption. Why unstated assumption is correct?

2) Why is C incorrect? John inter that Harry is no longer support unions. < This is the conclusion, isn't it? And Harry does disagree John's conclusion.

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

1). What assumption do you think John himself has stated? Make sure you understand what the GMAT means by the word 'assumption.' The 'assumption' of an argument is an UNSTATED premise that MUST BE TRUE for the argument to 'hold.' If an assumption of an argument is false, the argument basically falls apart.

2). Harry does disagree with John's conclusion, but does challenge John's reasoning.

Why does John think Harry doesn't support unions? Why does Harry respond the way he does?

Tanchat · Answer

1) Then, John doesn’t provide an Assumption, right? Then, why B told “a false unstated assumption”? If Assumption is not stated, why it’s false

2) because John assumes that the car is imported and Harry buys it. Then, John infers (concludes) that Harry is no longer support unions.
Harry contradicts the John’s conclusion that Harry still supports union because he buys the car designed and manufactured in US

Posted from my mobile device

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

Notice that you yourself wrote: ' because John  assumes  that the car is imported.'

John doesn't 'provide' the assumption, he *makes* the assumption. Harry (and you) have realized John is *assuming* the car is imported (without stating that he is assuming that). Harry points out that this unstated assumption is false--the car is in fact not imported; it is made in the United States.

Mavisdu1017 · Answer

ReedArnoldMPREP  Hello expert, I cannot understand why C is wrong. I think the two persons just have a disagreement of the definition about “makers of imports” VS “imported car”; but this has nothing to do with John’s reasoning. Could you explain further? Thanks

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

It's not a disagreement over definitions, it's about whether or not Harry is buying a car that has been imported. John is assuming that because Alma is one of the "biggest makers of imports," that the Alma-car Harry is buying must be imported. There's no disagreement on the definitions of "makers of imports" or "imported car." John is assuming that a car bought from a company that 'makes a lot of imports' must be an 'imported car.' Harry points out that the car he is buying from Alma is *not* an imported, something John was clearly assuming.

C is wrong because Harry does challenge John's reasoning. John reasons that 'because you're buying from Alma, one of the largest makers of imported cars, you don't support unions.' Harry is challenging that reasoning--"I am buying from Alma, but I'm not buying an imported car. You are assuming that since I'm buying from Alma, I'm buying an imported car."

woohoo921 · Answer

Hi experts,

I realize that this question is discussed in great length on this form, and I understand why Choice B is correct. Not to overthink this, but isn't John still supporting a company does not support union labor, even if his particular car is made in the United States?

Thank you for your time.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

It's true that the profits derived from Harry's purchase may go to a company that doesn't support union labor, but really, what company does support union labor? Unions support union labor, not companies.

Thus, the point isn't about whether the company that manufactures the car supports union labor. The point is about whether Harry supported union labor. Regardless of what the company supports, since "the Alma Deluxe, is designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States," it could be made entirely with union labor. Thus, in buying the car, Harry could be supporting union labor.

rickyric395 · Answer

Hi  KarishmaB , thanks for the explanation, your explanations always help. But to me it seems like the assumption John made is that 'The car Harry is buying is an imported car (this is an assumption) as Alma is biggest importer (that is a premise)'. And Harry counters the argument by saying that even though Alma is biggest importer, the model he is buying is made in US.
Am I correct or is there something I missed?

KarishmaB · Answer

Yes, that is what the assumption is. John assumes that Harry is buying an imported car only because Harry is buying a car of Alma (a foreign company). 
But Harry is buying the Alma Deluxe which is made locally, not imported.

With the globalisation, a company originating in country X could be manufacturing products all across the world. It could set up plants in other countries and manufacture and sell there itself. Those goods will not be called imports in those countries because they were made locally.

rachanarc · Answer

This is why I think E is wrong : Ques stem - "Harry's method of defending his purchase of an Alma is to..." E says - "...claim that his is a special case in which the rule need not apply" Think about - what's the rule here? RULE IS - People who buy imported car <----> Don't support Union Labor Now think what would be a special case to this rule ? People who buy imported ca r <-----> Support Union Labor But, does this special case to the rule apply to Harry? Special case to the rule applies to people who buy imported car. But Harry didn't buy an imported car - He bought a car which is manufactured in the US (company could be foreign company but manufactured in the US implies it's not imported). Hence, special case to the rule doesn't apply to Harry and E is wrong.

hellocharu123 · Answer

okay.. let's do this

John : If someone buys an imported car then they do not support the union labour. And since, Alma is biggest makers of imports therefore you don't support unions.

Harry : I still do support unions. The car I am buying belongs to an outside car company but it is not imported as it is fully made in our country, only the brand name is of alma which is outside country.

Here Harry is saying that you have assumed that I have purchased from Alma which means it is from outside our country which is not true.

hence as per this option B seems relevant.

Now, let's see other options.

A) disown the principle he formerly held
Incorrect : Harry is not disowning the principle he formerly held rather he says that principle is still valid as that's what he has followed.

B) show that John's argument involves a false unstated assumption
Correct : yes, John assumed that the car Harry is purchasing is imported.

C) contradict John's conclusion without challenging John's reasoning in drawing that conclusion
Incorrect : Harry does contradicts John's conclusions but also challenges his reasoning in drawing that conclusion.

D) point out that one of the statements John makes in support of his argument is false
Incorrect : John does not make any inaccurate statements in the argument.

E) claim that his is a special case in which the rule need not apply
Incorrect : Harry is not saying that his is a special case. He's saying his car is not imported only. There's no exception.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

John: You told me once that no United States citizen who supports union labor should buy an imported car. Yet you are buying an Alma. Since Alma is one of the biggest makers of imports, I infer that you no longer support unions.

Harry: I still support labor unions. Even though Alma is a foreign car company, the car I am buying, the Alma Deluxe, is designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States.

Harry's method of defending his purchase of an Alma is to

(A) disown the principle he formerly held
Nope. Harry doesn’t disown his principle about imported cars. His response clarifies that the car in question wasn’t imported.

(B) show that John's argument involves a false unstated assumption
This is the answer. John basically assumes that all the cars Alma sells in the US are imported. Harry points out that even though the company is foreign, the car in question wasn’t imported.

(C) contradict John's conclusion without challenging John's reasoning in drawing that conclusion
Nope. Had Harry only said the first sentence in his response, perhaps this answer choice may have had some potential.

(D) point out that one of the statements John makes in support of his argument is false
Nope. Other than the inference, Harry doesn’t deny anything John says (e.g. “Alma is one of the biggest makers of imports”).

(E) claim that his is a special case in which the rule need not apply
I can understand how this answer choice can be tempting but, ultimately, Harry isn’t claiming his situation is special. Had he said that, although the car he bought was imported, the company provides a lot of money to union labor for every purchase, that may be a different matter.

John: You told me once that no United States citizen who supports

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

John: You told me once that no United States citizen who supports

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