Verbal Question of the Day Chat Group

Hi there. I suggest you stop spamming.

I have a doubt. In critical reasoning questions - what does argument mean? If the question has two opposite arguments where one is supported by others and the other is supported by author. Then in that case argument is considered to be the viewpoint/conclusion of author or the other people?

Take this question as example. The point A says "....that argument rejects". Which argument is it talking about?

When you have statement(s) acting as premise and conclusion derived from premise, this set of premise and conclusion is termed as argument.
Whenever a question is asking about argument without any reference, it is asking about argument presented by the paragraph. This argument is almost always the one presented by author.

Answer D?
Here, question is referring to argument presented by the paragraph(or by the author). If there is any other argument, question will mention that explicitly.

Argument is actually the passage as a whole that is presented to you by the author to put his point forward that is the main point or the conclusion.
Whatever content the argument constitutes is written by the author itself - presenting 3rd party viewpoint and background information, but the author is free to agree or disagree with others viewpoint in order to present his viewpoint, the conclusion.

The argument rejects means, the author rejects- means it is against the main conclusion of the passage.
There is one and only one argument that is the entire passage written by the author.
Maybe you are getting confused with the term argument and 3rd party claim.

D is the answer right?

D is the correct answer and can be rephrased as follows-
The 1st boldface is a fact that is used as a base for the "stand" (main point/conclusion) that the author takes or the author wants his audience to believe.
The 2nd boldface is a claim that further supports author’s main point.

But in some questions, there is conclusion given other than author’s conclusion. Then in that case what should be the argument??

What if there are two conclusions - one by author and other by some other say critics?

D is correct

Argument is always the passage written by the author to make a point (conclusion). If the passage doesn’t have main conclusion (author’s main point) then it is not an argument.
Now coming to the question part- Those type of questions actually asks about the 3rd party conclusion and not author’s conclusion.
In such arguments the author will present certain facts, 3rd party claims (conclusion) and then present his viewpoint about 3rd party claim and then present facts to support his viewpoint.
Thus the argument will have two conclusion one by 3rd party can also be called intermediate conclusion and the main conclusion of the argument that is the author’s main point.

The definition of an argument in GMAT is different from our regular understanding.
Regular understanding of argument is - it is a heated debate or discussion among two or more people each trying to prove his point.

But an argument, as used on the GMAT, is a presentation of facts and opinions by the author in order to support a position-taken by the author.

I havent need to add more links. your posted links are enough. If the question was wrong, than how swati found an answer choice? also you can add possibility or probability in hypothetical actions for better understanding. i think you messed up with it.



CR Questions June - 9 :

Q1. Editorialist: The positions advanced by radical environmentalists often contain hypotheses that are false and proposals that are economically infeasible. But there is a positive role to be played even by these extremists, for the social and political inertia that attends environmental issues is so stubborn that even small areas of progress can be made only if the populace fears environmental disaster, however untenable the reasons for those fears may be.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the editorialist’s argument?

(A) The little progress that has been made in improving the environment is mainly due to the fear created by radical environmentalists.

(B) Radical environmentalists, by promoting their views, stimulate progress on environmental issues.

(C) Social and political inertia is most effectively overcome by an extremely fearful populace, regardless of whether its fears are well-founded.

(D) Radical environmentalists often put forth untenable positions in order to produce the fear that is required to bring about moderate reforms.

(E) Radical environmentalists advocate positions without regard for factual support or economic feasibility.




Difficulty - Hard

Q2. Political analysts have, time and again, indulged in vigorous berating of the Electoral College, claiming that it is, technically,not a purely democratic method of selecting a president and that it ought to be superseded by declaring the candidate who receives the most popular votes the winner. The most far-reaching consequence of the Electoral College is that it has led to the development of two political parties that strive for broad appeal. Most other democracies have dozens of parties, many with very narrow agendas. With so many parties dividing the legislature, it can be difficult to get them to agree on anything. But the Electoral College requires a candidate to win a majority of electoral votes; if there were three or more parties, this would almost never happen. Thus, the Electoral College contributes to the political stability of the nation by encouraging a two- party system and discouraging the proliferation of splinter parties such as those that have plagued many other democracies.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

a. The first states the position that the argument as a whole opposes; the second provides evidence to undermine the support for the position being opposed.

b. The first states the position that the argument as a whole opposes; the second provides evidence that has been used to support the position being opposed.

c. The first states the position that the argument as a whole opposes; the second calls this position into question.

d. The first states a position that the argument evaluates in reaching its main conclusion; the second has been used to support that conclusion.

e. The first states a position that the argument seeks to establish; the second provides evidence in support of that position.



Difficulty - Hard

B
A-progress has been made?
C-Very tempting, but "progress despite inertia" is discussed, not "overcome inertia"
D- claims that fear is incited intentionally
E- perfect inference but it’s not the conclusion

D - Evaluates; Support to political stability conclusion
A,B,C - Never has the argument claimed that electoral college is purely democratic. So not an opposition
E- No, Evaluated not supported or established

The Irish Pub Company (“IPCo”) specializes in designing authentic Irish Pubs. The company has discovered that sales at the average authentically-designed Irish Pub in Boston, including converted bars, are more than 3.5 times those of the average of all bars simply owned by Irish-Americans. Based on this information, one Bostonian restaurateur should hire IPCo to convert all the bars she owns citywide into authentic Irish Pubs.

Which of the following inferences can be most properly drawn from the information above, assuming all of it is true?

(A) The restaurateur is an Irish-American.
(B) The restaurateur will boost sales in her bars by at least 250 percent.
(C) At least some of the restaurateur’s bars lack selling points above and beyond what is found in the average Irish-American owned bar.
(D) There is potential for sales growth in all of the restaurater’s bars.
(E) Sales in authentically designed Irish Pubs in Boston exceed those of the restaurateur’s own bars.

please explain the answer

no

its d

c cannot be cause we dont have any idea about about selling points of individual bars

i am confused between b,d,e

the answer given is d

SC Questions June - 10 :

Q1. The first detailed study of magpie attacks in Australia indicates that by the time they had reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country have been attacked by the birds.

(A) by the time they had reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country have been attacked by the birds

(B) by the time they reach adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women, who were born in the country, had been attacked by the birds

(C) by the time they reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country had been attacked by the birds

(D) 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women that were born in the country were attacked by the birds by the time they reach adulthood

(E) 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women who were born in the country, by the time they reached adulthood had been attacked by the birds



Difficulty - Hard

Q2. Although when a hagfish is threatened, it will secrete slime that is small in quantity, it expands several hundred times as it absorbs seawater, forming a slime ball that can coat the gills of predatory fish and either suffocate them or distress them enough to make them flee.

A) Although when a hagfish is threatened, it will secrete slime that is small in quantity,

B) Although a small quantity of slime is secreted by the hagfish, when threatened

C) Although, when threatened, a hagfish will secrete slime that is small in quantity,

D) Although the slime secreted by a threatened hagfish is small in quantity,

E) Although the hagfish secretes a small quantity of slime when threatened,


Difficulty - Hard

what is the least number that must be added to 999999 so that the sum is completely divisible by 17

D- "All" throws you off a little, but that was included in the conclusion
A- No; The study discovered is comparing IAs, doesn’t mean others can’t hire them
B-Firstly, 250% increase is average, not minimum. Secondly, we don’t whether it’s Irish owned
C- IA owned bars are ref for IPCo, not this restaurateur
E- We don’t know, probably restaurateur is already higher in sales (bars in a higher footfall area or bars have exploited business potential different from that of IPCo). Hiring is probably to use the potential available in the area and increase the sales further using IPCo

C. Sequence of events; Reached adulthood (in the past), had been attacked (past of past, past perfect)
D&E changes meaning

D - Slime should be the subject, because slime expands to slime ball