Passage analysis Last year Comfort Airlines had twice as many delayed flights as the year before,
Last year, Comfort Airlines had many delayed flights
Last year, the number of flights delayed was double the number of flights delayed the year before that.
but the number of complaints from passengers about delayed flights went up three times. Passengers complained about these delayed flights.
Last year the number of complaints were three times the number in the year before last.
We can infer that though the number of flights delayed doubled last year, the number of complaints about delayed flights tripled disproportionately.
It is unlikely that this disproportionate increase in complaints was rooted in an increase in overall dissatisfaction with the service Comfort Airlines provides, since the airline made a special effort to improve other aspects of its service last year.This disproportionate increase in complaints was not because of an increase in overall dissatisfaction with the service of Comfort Airlines
because Comfort Airlines put in special effort to improve the other areas of its service last year.
ConclusionOverall dissatisfaction with the service provided by Comfort Airlines is unlikely to be the reason behind the disproportionate increase in complaints by the passengers.
Pre-thinkingStrengthen FrameworkNow per our understanding of the passage, let’s first write down the strengthen framework:
What new information will help us believe more in the conclusion
Overall dissatisfaction with the service provided by Comfort Airlines is unlikely to be the reason behind the disproportionate increase in complaints by the passengers.
Given that
Last year, the number of delayed fights of CA was double the number of delayed flights the year before.
But the number of complaints last year was three time the number of complaints the year before.
CA made special improvements to the other aspects of its service last year.
Thought processIf the number of flights delayed doubled, then one would expect the complaints also to more or less double.
In this case, the assumption made would be that the number of total passengers of CA had not been higher last year than the year before (that is the number of passengers had either remained the same or reduced somewhat).
But the number of complaints has unexpectedly risen by three times.
This in spite of the fact that CA made specially improved the other aspects of its service(other than the delay aspect).
So, CA is confident that the unexpected increase in the number of complaints is not because of
The other aspects of the service (they have taken care of that last year itself)
The usual number of delays (had it been because of the number of delays, then the number of complaints was expected to go up accordingly with the increase in the number of flights delayed - twice - and not go up three times).
Then what has led to the disproportionate increase in complaints?
StrengthenerClearly, there is something else that the passengers are complaining about. Any statement/evidence indicating a factor/reason that could have caused the disproportionate increase will strengthen the airline’ conclusion that the complaints are not because of overall dissatisfaction with their services.
Answer ChoicesOption AThe passage mentions “the numbers of delayed flights” quite explicitly. Thus the total number of flights does not matter at all to the discussion.
Thus, this is not the correct choice.
Option BThe reason why the flights had been delayed does not matter. We need to find the reason behind the disproportionately increased number of complaints. Therefore, this is irrelevant to the discussion.
Thus, this is not the correct answer choice.
Option CWhy the improvements were made is not important as long as they were made and therefore the disproportionate increase in complaints could not have been related to the service aspect of the airlines. This option does not give any alternative reason behind the increased number of complaints.
Thus, this is not the correct choice.
Option DThis option introduces a factor about the delays that has not been considered in the argument. The argument only looks at the number of delays and the number of complaints.
What about the kind of delay itself?
This option says the delays were lengthier on average and this could have led more than the expected number of passengers to complain about them.
This is in line with pre-thinking.
Thus, this is the correct answer choice.
Option E The option implies that the average number of passengers per flight was either the same or less than the year before last. This further confuses us. It still does not give the reason why the number of complaints increased threefold if the average number of passengers did not increase.
Thus, this is not the correct answer choice.
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