If you want to find a statement that weakens an argument, you have to start by understanding that argument. Start with the conclusion: "removing the {high tariff on the export of unprocessed cashew nuts} would seriously hamper the government's effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years."

Now make sure you understand the structure of the argument--how does the author arrive at that conclusion?

• The first sentence tells us about the high tariff that is currently in place and that ensures that unprocessed cashew nuts are sold to domestic processing plants.
• The second sentence tell us that more farmers could profit by growing cashews if the tariff were lifted and unprocessed cashews were sold at world market prices.
• We can infer that selling cashews at world market prices (without the tariff) would be more profitable for Kernland farmers than selling the cashews to domestic processing plants. In other words, the price at which farmers currently sell unprocessed cashews to domestic plants is LOWER than the world market price, but because of the high tariff the farmers cannot take advantage of the higher world market price.
• If the tariff were removed and the farmers began exporting more of their unprocessed cashews, sales of unprocessed cashews to domestic processing plants would be reduced. If the domestic plants have fewer cashews to process, the plants, which are all located in urban areas, would likely need fewer employees, potentially leading to layoffs.
• Thus, according to the author, removing the tariff would likely lead to a loss of jobs at domestic processing plants. This job loss would "seriously hamper the government's effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years."

Now, which of the answer choices most seriously weakens this argument?


Regardless of what cashew processing plants do with some of the byproducts, removing the tariff might still lower the amount of work for domestic plants, leading to a loss of jobs and possibly hampering the government's effort to reduce urban unemployment. This fact does not impact the author's argument, so (A) can be eliminated.


We are told that "if the tariff were lifted and unprocessed cashews were sold at world market prices, more farmers could profit by growing cashews." This implies that Kernland farmers would, in the absence of the tariff, sell more cashews to other countries and sell fewer cashews to domestic plants. Statement (B) does not impact this reasoning, so (B) can be eliminated.


Just because MORE people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews does not mean that the number of people engaged in processing cashews is small. If a significant portion of Kernland's population is engaged in processing cashews, there could be a significant number of lost jobs if more cashews are exported. Choice (C) does not necessarily impact the author's reasoning and can be eliminated.


This statement does not weaken the author's argument. In fact, if true, this statement probably strengthens the author's argument. Currently, cashew processors in Kernland can sell processed nuts at competitive prices. If the tariff is lifted, cashew processors would have to raise their prices to maintain current profit levels, and this might lead to a decline in sales if some consumers are unwilling to pay those higher prices. A decline in sales would make it more likely that domestic plant workers might lose their jobs. Eliminate (D).


If an increasing number of small farmers leave their land to go to the cities, there will be fewer farmers to grow and harvest unprocessed cashews in Kernland. Gradually, the domestic plants might have fewer domestic cashews to process and will either have to import cashews at the higher world market price or reduce plant operations. Thus, statement (E) suggests that domestic plant workers might lose their jobs if the tariff is NOT removed. Furthermore, with more and more people (the former small farmers who left their land) moving to the cities looking for work, it is quite possible that urban unemployment will rise. If statement (E) is true, removing the tariff would encourage more farmers to stay in Kernland and grow cashews that need to be processed. Thus, statement (E) is evidence that removing the tariff will NOT seriously hamper the government's effort to reduce urban unemployment. This weakens the author's argument, so (E) is the best answer.
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Solution

Passage Analysis

Kernland imposes a high tariff on the export of unprocessed cashew nuts in order to ensure that the nuts are sold to domestic processing plants.
-Kernland taxes export of unprocessed cashewnuts heavily.
-The purpose is to ensure that the cashewnuts are sold to processing plants in the country.

If the tariff were lifted and unprocessed cashews were sold at world market prices, more farmers could profit by growing cashews.
-If the tax is removed, and if unprocessed cashews can be sold at world market prices.
-Then, this will help more farmers to make a profit from cashew farming.

However, since all the processing plants are in urban areas,
-But, currently, considering that all processing plants are in the cities,

removing the tariff would seriously hamper the government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years.
- eliminating the tax will negatively affect government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment in the coming five years.

Prethinking

We are told that a high tariff ensures unprocessed cashew nuts are sold in Kernland plants.
If tariffs were removed, farmers would benefit from it, but efforts to reduce urban unemployment will be hampered.

Weaken framework

What new information will decrease one’s belief in the conclusion that removing the tariff would seriously hamper the government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years

Given that
-Kernland imposes a high tariff on the export of unprocessed cashew nuts in order to ensure that the nuts are sold to domestic processing plants.
-If the tariff were lifted and unprocessed cashews were sold at world market prices, more farmers could profit by growing cashews.
-All the processing plants are in urban areas.

Weakener 1

Any information that suggests that- Not removing the tariff leads to an increase in urban unemployment.

Weakener 2

Any information that suggests that- Removing tariffs will decrease unemployment .


Answer Choice Analysis

A. Some of the by-products of processing cashews are used for manufacturing paints and plastics.
Our conclusion is concerned only about the relation between the mentioned tariff and urban unemployment. The processing per se and its by products are out of scope. Hence this answer is incorrect.

B. Other countries in which cashews are processed subsidize their processing plants.
What happens in other countries is beyond the scope of this argument. Hence this is an incorrect answer.

C. More people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them.
Option suggests more people are farming (in rural areas) than in processing (urban areas). We are concerned only about urban unemployment. Farmers are naturally in the rural areas, so their jobs or job loss for whatsoever reason and comparison to urban workers is out of scope. The fact that there are more folks involved in rural/farming does not impact the conclusion about urban unemployment getting hit.


D. Buying unprocessed cashews at lower than world market prices enable cashew processors in Kernland to sell processed nuts at competitive prices.
This option is not concerned about urban unemployment at all. Hence this option is also irrelevant.

E. A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities.
This option is in line with weakener #1
If currently, the presence of the tariff causes an increase in unemployment in the urban areas (due to migration of farmers to urban areas searching for jobs, say -one reason), that means removing this tariff is not going to seriously hamper the government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years. If the tariff is removed, it will only make the government's job easier.
Therefore, option E is the correct answer.
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Kernland imposes a high tariff on the export of unprocessed cashew nuts in order to ensure that the nuts are sold to domestic processing plants. If the tariff were lifted and unprocessed cashews were sold at world market prices, more farmers could profit by growing cashews. However, since all the processing plants are in urban areas, removing the tariff would seriously hamper the government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?


A. Some of the by-products of processing cashews are used for manufacturing paints and plastics.

B. Other countries in which cashews are processed subsidize their processing plants.

C. More people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them.

D. Buying unprocessed cashews at lower than world market prices enables cashew processors in Kernland to sell processed nuts at competitive prices.

E. A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities.

Kernland imposes a high tariff on the export of unprocessed cashew nuts in order to ensure that the nuts are sold to domestic processing plants.
If the tariff were lifted and unprocessed cashews were sold at world market prices, more farmers could profit by growing cashews.

Conclusion- since all the processing plants are in urban areas, removing the tariff would seriously hamper the government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years.

We need to find an option that weakens the conclusion

A. Some of the by-products of processing cashews are used for manufacturing paints and plastics.
Irrelevant

B. Other countries in which cashews are processed subsidize their processing plants.
Does not impact the conclusion. Irrelevant.

C. More people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them.
The conclusion talks about urban unemployment. The fact that more people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them does not tell us about the proportion of people engaged in processing cashews or about urban employment. Eliminate.


D. Buying unprocessed cashews at lower than world market prices enables cashew processors in Kernland to sell processed nuts at competitive prices.
If anything, D is a strengthener.


E. A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities.
E gives us another reason for the increasing unemployment in urban areas. If more people are moving into the cities for employment, removing the tariffs would only benefit them/domestic processing plants. E weakens the conclusion.
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Argument: removing the tariff would seriously hamper the government's effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years.

how to weaken the above argument?
by Proving:
tariff
=> do not reduce urban unemployment
=> increase the urban unemployment

E) A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities.
==> Because of tariff, farmers are moving to urban areas and are increasing the unemployment figures of urban

Got this explanation from another thread

Definitely E. Here we r concerned abt unemployment in urban areas. E mentions that bcos of lack of emloyment opportunities many youths frm villages r forced 2 move 2 cities 4 employment which adds to the unemployment scenario in C. so if tehse youths will have ample opportunity in village itself, the problem in urban areas will be solved.

I would go with E.

And the explanation is:
Removing tariff increases urban unemployment

What if there is another scenario which increases urban unemployment. That would weaken the argument.
In E, "lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities" increases urban unemployment. So we found an alternative cause for an effect.

After seeing every comment, I am very confused as I Picked 'C' as the answer. Aint it work the following way?

Cause------------> Effect

Removing the tariff------------> serious hamper of the government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment ~= Increase in the number of Unemployed people in urban area.

Now, in case of E, if the tariff is removed, farmers will have at least one profitable crop, thus will not move(or move little) to urban area. So they will not move to urban area. However, the urban processing folks will still loose jobs as most of the cashew nuts will be imported to outside (Is the logic flawed?). In short, here Cause-----------> effects, so E actually strengthens the argument.

From another point of view, E shows that if there is tariff (the prevailing situation continues), the number of farmers will increase in urban area for the movement and probably will create more unemployment (though not mentioned specifically that the migrated farmers will be jobless, I am taking it as a general assumption), thereby worsening the unemployment situation. In short, Absence of Cause-----------> Creates the effect.

I am totally confused as how to attack the argument (Reading the CR Bible too much I guess)

Now for 'C',

Even if you remove the tariff, the effect will be minimal as more people are engage in farming than producing. We may say that governments effort to reduce unemployment in urban area will not be "seriously hampered".

Please help me find the error in reasoning on choice 'E'. What is the OA?

Well IMO C and E is negative choices but C is irrevelant to the conclusion. The conclusion states,'' removing
the tariff would seriously hamper the government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment
over the next five years'' . I may ask what's the reason for this urban unemployment. Then this conclusion would be weaken. IMO E

Argument: Removing tariff would reduce employment in urban areas where the domestic processing plants are

Support: Domestic processing plants buy the unprocessed cashew nuts at a "lower" price, thanks to the high tariff that is imposed when the unprocessed cashew nuts are exported out of the country and sold to foreigners


Weakening strategies:
1) Opposite Argument
2) Opposite Support
3) Discredit the link between support and argument

Here, my initial hunch is that the "support" is not necessarily linked to the "argument". The keyword is employment. How are domestic processing plants' buying cashew nuts at a discounted price...how is that linked to employment? Specifically, "urban" employment.

If we look at (E), we DO talk specifically about urban when they mention movement of farmers into the cities.
(E) A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities.

If (E) is true...then when import tariff is REMOVED then farmers DO PROFIT. If farmers profit, we know they don't MOVE into the cities, they instead stay on the farms. So in this case, since they don't go into the city, we do not have a lot of unemployed farmers in the city. And thus, the employment rate stays healthy.

So from the beginning, we may think of (E) as saying due to lack of profitable crop, farmers are entering cities. Presumably they are unemployed and this reduces employment rate in the city. But THEN, import tariffs are removed, and suddenly we HAVE a profitable crop. Thus will keep farmers on their farm, away from the cities and employment rates in the city are not affected. Thus the government's efforts to INCREASE urban employment is NOT affected - which is opposite the conclusion reached in the passage.

Remember for CR questions that involve weakening or strengthening we need to focus on the argument (conclusion)

Conclusion: Since all the processing plants are in urban areas, removing the tariff would seriously hamper the government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years

So we're looking for a statement that will weaken the argument that removing the tariff's would hamper the effort to reduce unemployment.

Remember in CR questions all the statements in the passage are considered true unless otherwise stated.

Facts:
- The tariff's are driving the farmers to sell the cashews to domestic processing plants at lower than world market prices.
- If the tariff's were removed the farmers could sell at higher prices to world markets and profit more.

A.) Some of the by-products of processing cashews are used for manufacturing paints and plastics. This doesn't tell us anything about the unemployment issue in the conclusion. It implies that the by-products of the cashews are keeping other plants open (the paints and plastics), so this will strengthen the argument slightly, but even still it's a stretch to infer that.

B.) Other countries in which cashews are processed subsidize their processing plants. This tells us that other countries governments are subsidizing processing plants to keep them open. This is a useless statement that neither strengthens nor weakens the argument.

C.) More people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them. This statement tells you about the ratio to farmers to processors. Farmers>Processors. This has no impact on the unemployment of the processors if the tariff's were removed. It only tells you if the tariff's were removed the smaller party would be impacted more, which is still undesirable. If we had 50,000 farmers and 49,500 processors, it's still a huge loss for Kernland and this statement could still be satisfied.

D.) Buying unprocessed cashews at lower than world market prices enables cashew processors in Kernland to sell processed nuts at competitive prices. This statement strengthens the argument of the author. The tariff's MUST stay in place so that the Kernland processors can sell the cashews at a competitive price. This is the opposite of what we're looking for.

E.) A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities. BINGO! Exactly what we're looking for. It hits on both of our facts from the passage and finds another cause for the unemployment problem other than the conclusion that was stated. Fact from passage: The cashew sells are not profitable to the farmers. Effect - Because of this the farmers are coming into the city adding to the unemployment problem. If the tariff's were removed, the farmers could farm cashews and sell them for a higher profit, which would prevent them from moving into the urban areas creating less competition for jobs, which would lower the unemployment.

Hi 2013gmat. I'm glad to help.

ANALYZE THE STIMULUS:

The logic of the question is:

- High tariff on the export --> nuts are sold to domestic processing plants which are in urban area --> unemployment rate in urban area reduces
- Remove high tariff on the export --> nuts are sold to world market --> fewer job in processing plants --> unemployment rate in urban area.

The conclusion: Remove high tariff leads to high unemployment in urban.
Assumption: high tariff affects unemployment rate directly.

In order to weaken the conclusion, we have to scenarios:
(1) Attack the conclusion: Remove high tariff --> unemployment rate in urban will not be high. This is a extreme case, which undermine the conclusion completely (100%)
(2) Attack the assumption: There is another reason leading to high unemployment in urban. Thus, the removing of high tariff is not the main cause. On the other hand, the unemployment rate in urban will not be affected by the high tariff –OR-- the removing of high tariff.

ANALYZE EACH ANSWER:

A. Some of the by-products of processing cashews are used for manufacturing paints and plastics.
Wrong. Out of scope.

B. Other countries in which cashews are processed subsidize their processing plants.
Wrong. Out of scope. We only talk about Kernland.

C. More people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them.
Wrong. Out of scope. We do not have information about the proportion between people farming cashew and people processing cashew. Thus, the ratio does not help to weaken.

D. Buying unprocessed cashews at lower than world market prices enables cashew processors in Kernland to sell processed nuts at competitive prices.
Wrong. Out of scope. We do not talk about how much cashew processors earn. Just focus on the relationship between “high tariff” and “unemployment in urban”.

E. A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities.
Correct. Only E makes sense. Because E shows that the main cause leading to unemployment in urban is the lack of profitable crops. When the high tariff still exists –OR-- is removed, if the farmers earn too little from their crops, they will not have motivation to continue farming. They will move to cities, unemployment rate in urban is still high.

Hope it helps.

I'm still confused with this sentence "If the tariff were lifted and unprocessed cashews were sold at world market prices". Does it mean that if the tariff were higher (rather than lower), then farmers could sell unprocessed cashews at higher prices?

Sueds, in this context, "lift" actually means to remove, revoke, or rescind. For example, "During a state of emergency, the police imposed a curfew. The curfew was lifted after one week."

So in this sentence, we are talking about removing the tariffs, not raising the tariffs.
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Kernland imposes a high tariff on the export of unprocessed cashew nuts in order to ensure that the nuts are sold to domestic processing plants. If the tariff were lifted and unprocessed cashews were sold at world market prices, more farmers could profit by growing cashews. However, since all the processing plants are in urban areas, removing the tariff would seriously hamper the government’s effort to reduce urban unemployment over the next five years.
=> Conclusion: Tariff causes urban unemployment. Emphasize : URBAN, not any other areas.
= > TO weaken conclusion: There is another force besides tariff that can cause URBAN unemployment.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?


A. Some of the by-products of processing cashews are used for manufacturing paints and plastics.
=> by-product is out of scope.
B. Other countries in which cashews are processed subsidize their processing plants.
Subsidize - out of scope
C. More people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them.
=> does not tell anything about unemployment. if Tariff is lifted, then more profit for more farmers, that's all to say.
D. Buying unprocessed cashews at lower than world market prices enables cashew processors in Kernland to sell processed nuts at competitive prices.
=> this is what is stated in question (no tariff => sell at world prices => profit) . simply rephrase. OUT
E. A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities.
=> this states an alternative cause. if you put emphasize on URBAN unemployment you will see E is correct. Higher URBAN unemployment as a result of the MOVEMENT of unemployed people from OTHER PLACES who come to the urban areas. therefore, tariff may or may not be the cause of the problem.
E is correct.

I have an issue with E.

E. A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities.
Isn't this just saying people are being displaced to work in cities? It's a stretch to say that this talks about unemployment. Are you inferring that they are not finding jobs in cities? In any case, they'll no longer be urban residents so (if we want to get technical) they will not be an urban statistic.

C. More people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them.
For me, this speaks (more) directly about unemployment. Fewer people will be affected by the change, thereby weakening the conclusion that removing the tariff would seriously hamper Gov plans etc.

Maybe if E. inferred that the farmers were losing their jobs then it would be strengthened.

Any help?

Hi GMATNinja

In E) it is given that "a lack of profitable crop". But from the argument we have inferred that cashed is still profitable, be it sold at world market price or with tariff to domestic market. It is just a matter of more or less profit. Then how does Option E)impact the argument, since E talks about "Lack" of profitable crop?

You're right, we can assume that cashews are profitable from this part of the passage:

"If the tariff were lifted and unprocessed cashews were sold at world market prices, more farmers could profit by growing cashews."

From this, we know that some farmers can profit by growing cashews. We can't tell whether farmers who keep their cashews in Kernland and sell to domestic processing plants are the only ones that can make a profit or if exporters can also make a profit.

What we can tell is if the tariffs were lifted more farmers could profit by growing cashews.

(E) tells us:

This doesn't tell us whether the crops mentioned are cashews or not, all we know is that an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland are leaving their farms and moving to the cities. This increasing number of small farmers will be looking for employment in Kernland's cities. If they cannot find jobs then they will be added to the list of unemployed people in Kernland's urban areas.

We know that removing the tariffs on cashews would allow more farmers to make a profit -- this could keep some of these farmers on their farms and prevent them being added to the number of urban unemployed.

It's not a case of more or less profit, this argument depends on the number of people that are able to make a profit.

This means that removing the tariffs would help the government's efforts to reduce urban unemployment, weakening the argument.

That's why (E) is the answer to this question.

I hope that helps!
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Option E: Lack of profitable crops is sending more people to cities-> thereby increasing the number of people in the city which would potentially increase unemployment(as total no of unemployed people increase). The government already mentions that increasing tariff would reduce job opportunities in these processing units, so if more people(farmers) come to the city the unemployment is only going to increase. So, yes- the argument already implies that finding jobs in cities would get tough because of a processing unit not working as much.
However, if the tariff comes into play-crops are sold at market prices in turn helping farmers become profitable-> less/no farmers would leave farming. This statement actually implies that if the tariffs are not brought into place, THEN unemployment in cities would increase. If the tariffs are introduced farmers would not flock to cities and thereby not increase unemployment rates in the city as the govt fears.
+ anyone residing in cities looking for unemployment WILL be counted in the statistic rather as is the case logically everywhere.

Option C: This does not have any impact on the fact that the government wants to reduce unemployment rate in the city. Say there are only 5 people in the city and 4 of them are unemployed- the rate is still high which govt wants to reduce.

E does infer that by saying farmers are moving to cities because of a "lack of profitable crops". Lack of profit=>losing money or job

Hope this helps!

A. Some of the by-products of processing cashews are used for manufacturing paints and plastics.
This is throughly out of context

B. Other countries in which cashews are processed subsidize their processing plants.
this will lead to increase cometition from outside if ban is lifted

C. More people in Kernland are engaged in farming cashews than in processing them.
This doesn't have an draastic effevt on the argument

D. Buying unprocessed cashews at lower than world market prices enables cashew processors in Kernland to sell processed nuts at competitive prices.
This too supports the argument

E. A lack of profitable crops is driving an increasing number of small farmers in Kernland off their land and into the cities.
this is can bea reason tariff lifting should be supported sonce it's destabilising the farming industry
Hence IMO E