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17 Jul 2026, 08:00
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
85%
(hard)
Question Stats:
53% (01:57) correct
47%
(02:08)
wrong
based on 278
sessions
History
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Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Kara owns a salt-water aquarium in which the level of salinity, or concentration of salt in the water, must be maintained within a narrow range. Salt is left behind in the remaining liquid when water evaporates, so Kara must periodically replenish the water that evaporates from the tank to keep the salinity in range. In considering whether she can leave the tank alone during a week-long business trip, Kara notes that, during her nine-day honeymoon, she left the tank unattended; while its salinity levels did increase, they were still well within the acceptable range when she returned from the trip. Kara concludes that, as long as the business trip is not extended beyond the planned dates, she can leave the tank unattended during the trip without endangering the fish.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above?
(A) Immediately before leaving for her honeymoon, Kara added an unusually large amount of water to the tank, bringing its salinity levels down to their minimum safe levels.
(B) In the nine years during which Kara has worked for her current employer, none of her business trips has been extended beyond the planned end date, and she has returned from several of them earlier than planned.
(C) Many of Kara's fish experience significant physiological stress from rapid changes in salinity, such as those that occur when a large amount of water is replenished, even if overall salinity levels remain within the safe range.
(D) Since her honeymoon, Kara has moved to a desert region, in which the lack of humidity allows water to evaporate more quickly than in her previous home region.
(E) Since Kara's honeymoon, the walls of her aquarium have developed imperfections in which salt collects and crystallizes, rather than staying dissolved in the remaining water, when water evaporates.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above?
(A) Immediately before leaving for her honeymoon, Kara added an unusually large amount of water to the tank, bringing its salinity levels down to their minimum safe levels.
(B) In the nine years during which Kara has worked for her current employer, none of her business trips has been extended beyond the planned end date, and she has returned from several of them earlier than planned.
(C) Many of Kara's fish experience significant physiological stress from rapid changes in salinity, such as those that occur when a large amount of water is replenished, even if overall salinity levels remain within the safe range.
(D) Since her honeymoon, Kara has moved to a desert region, in which the lack of humidity allows water to evaporate more quickly than in her previous home region.
(E) Since Kara's honeymoon, the walls of her aquarium have developed imperfections in which salt collects and crystallizes, rather than staying dissolved in the remaining water, when water evaporates.
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V26-59
17 Jul 2026, 09:00
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Bunuel
GMAT Club Official Explanation
When the water in Kara’s fish tank evaporates, the corresponding quantity of salt doesn't, and so the concentration of salt gradually rises. Since Kara left the tank unattended during her 9-day honeymoon without incident, she argues that she will be able to do the same for a 7-day business trip (with at least two extra days to spare).
We are not told of any other factors that may endanger the fish, so salinity is the only threat as far as this argument is concerned. The only feasible way to strengthen the argument, therefore, is to introduce an external fact that points to the salinity increasing EVEN MORE SLOWLY than we already expect it to by default.
Let’s scan the answer choices for that.
(A) According to this statement, Kara took an action that would maximize the time it would take for the salinity to reach dangerous levels during her honeymoon. This fact may have no net impact on the argument (if Kara does the same thing immediately before leaving again) or it may weaken the argument (if she does not), but there is no way for it to strengthen the argument.
(B) The conclusion of this argument contains “As long as the business trip is not extended beyond the planned dates”. This is a conditional—equivalent to “IF Kara’s business trip is not extended beyond 7 days”—so any possibility of an extended trip is excluded from consideration. The point of this answer choice is to suggest that Kara’s business trip is extremely unlikely to be extended, but that probability is irrelevant to an argument that doesn’t consider those possibilities.
(C) The argument is concerned with consequences of the gradual rise in salinity that will occur while Kara is away. The timeframe of the argument ends at the instant Kara arrives home (within the planned number of days); anything happening after Kara arrives back home is irrelevant.
(D) As described in the passage, salinity rises because of the gradual evaporation of water. If evaporation occurs more quickly than it did before, as this answer choice implies, then the salinity will reach dangerous levels more quickly than it previously did. This choice weakens the argument.
(E) CORRECT: If this statement is true, then evaporation will cause the salinity in the tank to increase more slowly than before the imperfections were present (because salt stuck in the imperfections doesn’t return to the water, and therefore can’t factor into salinity). At the resulting slower rate of increase, it will take more days for the salinity to reach dangerously high levels, so this statement strengthens the argument as required.
The correct answer is (E).
General Discussion
vrinda6
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Schools: Booth '27 Kellogg '27 CBS '27 Duke '27 Haas '27 HBS '27 Ross '27 Stern '27 Stanford '27 Wharton '27 Anderson '27
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Schools: Booth '27 Kellogg '27 CBS '27 Duke '27 Haas '27 HBS '27 Ross '27 Stern '27 Stanford '27 Wharton '27 Anderson '27
Posts: 65
17 Jul 2026, 08:50
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Answer E
A- It weakens the argument
B- Irrelevant to the premise . It only supports that the trip lasted for 7 days.
c- Mostly irrelevant.
d- again weakens the premise.
E correct
A- It weakens the argument
B- Irrelevant to the premise . It only supports that the trip lasted for 7 days.
c- Mostly irrelevant.
d- again weakens the premise.
E correct
17 Jul 2026, 09:08
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Answer: B)
Her Argument: As long as the business trip isn't longer than planned, she can leave the salt tank unattended because this proved viable during her honeymoon.
A) Weakens: If she manipulated the salt levels to the lower minimum range, then there was more room (i.e. more time) for the salinity to change but still stay within the range -> INCORRECT
B) Strengthens: if none of her business trips have been extended beyond the planned duration, then the argument that she can leave the tank unattended is strengthened -> CORRECT
C) Not relevant. As much as I feel sorry for the fish, this wouldn't impact her specific argument -> INCORRECT
D) Weakens -> INCORRECT
E) Weakens -> INCORRECT
Her Argument: As long as the business trip isn't longer than planned, she can leave the salt tank unattended because this proved viable during her honeymoon.
A) Weakens: If she manipulated the salt levels to the lower minimum range, then there was more room (i.e. more time) for the salinity to change but still stay within the range -> INCORRECT
B) Strengthens: if none of her business trips have been extended beyond the planned duration, then the argument that she can leave the tank unattended is strengthened -> CORRECT
C) Not relevant. As much as I feel sorry for the fish, this wouldn't impact her specific argument -> INCORRECT
D) Weakens -> INCORRECT
E) Weakens -> INCORRECT
