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Sub 505 (Easy)|   Weaken|                  
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AdityaHongunti
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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 06 Sep 2018, 04:47
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egmat @veritasprepKarishma bb @mikcgarry GMATNinjaTwo

In option E - we are not told whether the new satellites will not be needing repairs so doesn't the conclusion still hold that we MUST send satellites with Astros.

Is there where the "MOST" weakens part comes into play?not completely but still convincingly weakens the conclusion ?

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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 06 Sep 2018, 05:51
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AdityaHongunti
egmat @veritasprepKarishma bb @mikcgarry GMATNinjaTwo

In option E - we are not told whether the new satellites will not be needing repairs so doesn't the conclusion still hold that we MUST send satellites with Astros.

Is there where the "MOST" weakens part comes into play?not completely but still convincingly weakens the conclusion ?

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No options is perfect but you are crossing the line of scope. Scope is important. You could also argue that other satellites can fix themselves or that robots can fix each other or something else.

The best answer is the best answer, and I don’t see any other choices that could work.
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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 25 Sep 2018, 15:49
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bb
AdityaHongunti
egmat @veritasprepKarishma bb @mikcgarry GMATNinjaTwo

In option E - we are not told whether the new satellites will not be needing repairs so doesn't the conclusion still hold that we MUST send satellites with Astros.

Is there where the "MOST" weakens part comes into play?not completely but still convincingly weakens the conclusion ?

Posted from my mobile device

No options is perfect but you are crossing the line of scope. Scope is important. You could also argue that other satellites can fix themselves or that robots can fix each other or something else.

The best answer is the best answer, and I don’t see any other choices that could work.
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Remember, we are not asked to pick an answer choice that PROVES that the argument is invalid. Instead, we simply need the answer choice that "most seriously" weakens the argument. With that in mind, bb is spot on... none of the other four options would seriously weaken the author's argument, so we are left with (E) by default.

Quote:
(E) Technical obsolescence of robot satellites makes repairing them more costly and less practical than sending new, improved satellites into orbit.
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Also, choice (E) says that repairing robot satellites is "more costly and less practical" than sending new, improved satellites into orbit. The replacements are, themselves, satellites, so it would make sense that choice (E) also applies to the replacement satellites.

Do we know for sure that this is the case? No. Maybe for some reason it will become cheaper and more practical to repair the new ones instead of replacing them. But that possibility doesn't really change anything: the argument says that we will NEED astronauts to make satellite repairs. Choice (E) says, "Well, no, we can just replace the satellites instead of doing repairs."

Sure, you can counter choice (E) with the possibility described by AdityaHongunti, but all that does is slightly weaken the weakener! Even if that possibility exists, choice (E) tells us that the logic of the argument is flawed. Just because "the satellites can be repaired only in orbit" does NOT mean "that space flights carrying astronauts must continue."

By simply describing why space flights carrying astronauts might not actually be needed, choice (E) seriously weakens the argument.

I hope this helps!
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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 03 Jul 2020, 13:55
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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather patterns. Because the satellites can be repaired only in orbit, astronauts are needed to repair them. Without repairs, the satellites would eventually malfunction. Therefore, space flights carrying astronauts must continue.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?


(A) Satellites falling from orbit because of malfunctions burn up in the atmosphere.

(B) Although satellites are indispensable in the identification of weather patterns, weather forecasters also make some use of computer projections to identify weather patterns.

(C) The government, responding to public pressure, has decided to cut the budget for space flights and put more money into social welfare programs.

(D) Repair of satellites requires heavy equipment, which adds to the amount of fuel needed to lift a spaceship carrying astronauts into orbit.

(E) Technical obsolescence of robot satellites makes repairing them more costly and less practical than sending new, improved satellites into orbit.
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A little help here please. I rejected (E) as "Repairs needed in satellites due to "Technical Obsolescence" is nowhere mentioned in the paragraph. The para just states that without repairs, the satellites may malfunction. In this case, isn't (E) just weakening a specific case where repairs are required due to Technical Obsolescence? Repairs could be needed due to a a part not working, or some glitch and that wouldn't necessarily be more costly than sending new satellites?

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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 16 Jul 2020, 12:43
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vksunder
Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather patterns. Because the satellites can be repaired only in orbit, astronauts are needed to repair them. Without repairs, the satellites would eventually malfunction. Therefore, space flights carrying astronauts must continue.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?


(A) Satellites falling from orbit because of malfunctions burn up in the atmosphere.

(B) Although satellites are indispensable in the identification of weather patterns, weather forecasters also make some use of computer projections to identify weather patterns.

(C) The government, responding to public pressure, has decided to cut the budget for space flights and put more money into social welfare programs.

(D) Repair of satellites requires heavy equipment, which adds to the amount of fuel needed to lift a spaceship carrying astronauts into orbit.

(E) Technical obsolescence of robot satellites makes repairing them more costly and less practical than sending new, improved satellites into orbit.


A little help here please. I rejected (E) as "Repairs needed in satellites due to "Technical Obsolescence" is nowhere mentioned in the paragraph. The para just states that without repairs, the satellites may malfunction. In this case, isn't (E) just weakening a specific case where repairs are required due to Technical Obsolescence? Repairs could be needed due to a a part not working, or some glitch and that wouldn't necessarily be more costly than sending new satellites?

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To answer your question about: there is nothing in the passage or in (E) to say that the satellites would need to be repaired because of technical obsolescence. (E) is trying to tell us that because of the technical obsolescence -- the current state -- of these satellites any repairs will be more costly and less practical than just sending new satellites into orbit.

Technical obsolescence means these satellites are now out of date. There are other, newer, more capable satellites that are available and ready to be used.

Think about trying to repair an old car after something goes wrong in the engine -- it can be a very expensive process as the parts are hard to find or the old design makes repairs difficult. It might be cheaper and easier, in the long run, to buy a newer, more efficient car with lots of new features, rather than repairing the old one. The same thinking is being applied to the satellites in this question.

This gives us enough justification to say space flights carrying astronauts might not actually be needed. Since this weakens the argument -- and the other four answer choices do not -- (E) is the answer to this question.

I hope that helps!
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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 17 Aug 2020, 18:20
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Conclusion: “space flights carrying astronauts must continue” [because of the following: satellites repair only in orbit -> astronaut need to repair -> no repair = satellite malfunction]
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?

(A) Satellites falling from orbit because of malfunctions burn up in the atmosphere.
Out of scope – not sure why this is a trap answer.

(B) Although satellites are indispensable in the identification of weather patterns, weather forecasters also make some use of computer projections to identify weather patterns.
Pertinent potentially, but no. The dependent clause in the beginning threw it off (“satellites are indispensable”); indispensable = absolutely necessary. We’re trying to weaken the point that space flights carrying astronauts MUST continue. The conclusion could be true regardless of whether the answer choice is right or wrong.

(C) The government, responding to public pressure, has decided to cut the budget for space flights and put more money into social welfare programs.
Out of scope – doesn’t seem relevant at all. We’re NOT talking about money here and where that get allocated.

(D) Repair of satellites requires heavy equipment, which adds to the amount of fuel needed to lift a spaceship carrying astronauts into orbit.
Out of scope – what’s required for the repairs is irrelevant. It doesn’t negate the fact that space flights carrying astronauts MUST continue. This answer choice could be true or false, and the conclusion would hold. It doesn’t weaken.

(E) Technical obsolescence of robot satellites makes repairing them more costly and less practical than sending new, improved satellites into orbit.
New information to show the absolute conclusion isn’t absolute. Okay so the conclusion says that space flights carrying astronauts MUST continue to repair the satellites. But if we don’t have to repair (because we can presumably just launch these new satellites directly into orbit w/o astronauts), the space flights carrying astronauts are not necessary, weakening the argument’s conclusion. That was fun!
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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 02 Mar 2021, 22:52
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Hello Experts,

Can someone help me understand why E is correct?

I was initially inclined to mark E, but then there is nothing that has been talked about the cost, this is the only reason why I discarded E.

Thanks
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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 06 Jul 2025, 10:17
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Hi MartyMurray IanStewart DmitryFarber

I was confused between D and E for a minute but wanted to confirm my reasoning on D, can we say that option D is wrong because we need an additional assumption on our own that we can't bear the cost of additional fuel but nothing in the premise is given to support this. Thus, this option doesn't provide any sufficient info to weaken the conclusion that space flights must continue.
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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 12 Jul 2025, 18:16
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I see what you're saying, but I think it's more crucial to emphasize that this is about what MUST happen, not about affordability. Sure, the correct answer also mentions cost, but it does so in the context of suggesting an alternative solution to the problem. Just knowing that the current solution has some costly elements doesn't tell us that it must not continue. In fact, it doesn't even tell us whether the current solution is more cost-effective than any of the alternatives.
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Hi MartyMurray IanStewart DmitryFarber

I was confused between D and E for a minute but wanted to confirm my reasoning on D, can we say that option D is wrong because we need an additional assumption on our own that we can't bear the cost of additional fuel but nothing in the premise is given to support this. Thus, this option doesn't provide any sufficient info to weaken the conclusion that space flights must continue.
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Robot satellites relay important communications and identify weather 04 Dec 2025, 20:01
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E) Technical obsolescence makes repairing satellites more costly and less practical than sending new, improved satellites.

This is a direct hit.

It says:

repairing old satellites is not practical

replacing satellites with new ones is better.

So:

We don’t need to repair satellites → astronauts are not necessary → space flights with astronauts don’t need to continue.

This destroys the core assumption that repairs are the only way.

Therefore, the conclusion collapses.

Perfect weaken.
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