Source: GMAT plus Section 11 #19 It is widely assumed that a

Question

Source: GMAT plus Section 11 #19

It is widely assumed that a museum is helped finan-
cially when a generous patron donates a potential
exhibit. In truth, however, donated objects require
storage space, which is not free, and routine conser-
vation, which is rather expensive. Therefore, such gifts
exacerbate rather than lighten the demands made on
a museum's financial resources.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) To keep patrons well disposed, a museum will
find it advisable to put at least some donated
objects on exhibit rather than merely in storage.
(B) The people who are most likely to donate valu-
able objects to a museum are also the people
who are most likely to make cash gifts to it.
(C) A museum cannot save money by resorting to
cheap storage under less than adequate con-
ditions, because so doing would drive up the
cost of conservation.
(D) Patrons expect a museum to keep donated
objects in its possession rather than to raise
cash by selling them.
(E) Objects donated by a patron to a museum are
often of such importance that the museum
would be obliged to add them to its collec-
tion through purchase if necessary.

beckee529 · Answer

Anybody?

Balvinder · Answer

I will go for E

E is saying museum will be benifited financially becasue he dont have to purchase those items any more.

dr908 · Answer

Passage basically says "Musuem loses money by accepting donated objects because of costs of storage and conservation."

Immediately, a way to weaken the argument is simply by showing how the donated objects bring in money to the musuem to offset costs of storage OR dont have to be put in storage in the first place.

B) has nothing to with this
C) actuallly strengthens argument
D) strengthens argument (objects WILL NOT be sold for $$$)
E) strengthens argument (Musuems actually buys object)

A) Object will not be put in storage, and actually be on display to 'dispose' of patrons, meaning bring in patrons (who pay $) and at the very least keep it out of storage (and its associated costs)


Generally, I find with critical reasoning, after getting through the passage you can immediately get a feel for the weakness in an argument or hows it can easily be exploited. Then you just read the choices looking for what matches up to that.

b14kumar · Answer

It has to be E.

E says that :

"Objects donated by a patron to a museum are often of such importance that the museum would be obliged to add them to its collection through purchase if necessary."

 It means that Donation of these objects will help Museum make some saving otherwise Museum has to purchase these important object by spending Museum Fund. So E  weakens  the arguement. 

-Brajesh

vay · Answer

I go with answer E.

beckee529 · Answer

OA is E

vay · Answer

I go with answer E.

StartupAddict · Answer

Straight up E.

Think about it this way:

The argument is, because the museum has to incur costs of storage and conservation, object isn't worth it.

But E implies that the museum would buy the object anyways, and incur those costs. But in this case the museum would have to shell out $$ to get the object, where as originally it didn't have to. So really E) weakens it a heck of a lot more.

Source: GMAT plus Section 11 #19 It is widely assumed that a

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards