The earth's resources are being depleted much too fast. To correct thi

Question

The earth's resources are being depleted much too fast. To correct this, the United States must keep its resource consumption at present levels for many years to come.

The argument above depends on which of the following assumptions?

(A) Per capita resource consumption in the United States is at an all-time high. 
(B) The United States wastes resources. 
(C) The United States uses more resources than any other country. 
(D) The United States imports most of the resources it uses. 
(E) Curbing U.S. resource consumption will significantly retard world resource depletion.

Kinshook · Accepted Answer

Premise: The earth's resources are being depleted much too fast.

Conclusion: To correct this, the United States must keep its resource consumption at present levels for many years to come.

(E) Curbing U.S. resource consumption will significantly retard world resource depletion.
E fills the GAP between Premise and Conclusion.

Negation Test: 
(E) Curbing U.S. resource consumption will NOT significantly retard world resource depletion.
Then the conclusion
To correct this, the United States must keep its resource consumption at present levels for many years to come. 
FALLS APART.

IMO E

biyania · Answer

Straight E.

B C D are not required to make this argument a success.

A was getting close but even if per capita Resource consumption is not at all time high, it may still be alarming and effective against resources of earth. so negating A doesnt break the argument.

negating E straight breaks the spine of the argument.

himanshurajawat · Answer

The premise is talking about 'depletion' whereas the conclusion is talking about 'consumption'. We have to find the answer which logically fills this gap. Choice 'E' fits the best.

RICHA1189 · Answer

Conclusion - To correct this, the United States must keep its resource consumption at present levels for many years to come.

Assumption - taking a positive step towards consumption will save future. Only E matches.

The argument above depends on which of the following assumptions?

(A) Per capita resource consumption in the United States is at an all-time high. Wrong because Already mentioned in a passage in an implicit manner
(B) The United States wastes resources. Out of scope
(C) The United States uses more resources than any other country. Out of scope
(D) The United States imports most of the resources it uses. Out of scope
(E) Curbing U.S. resource consumption will significantly retard world resource depletion.  Correct

pudu · Answer

E Because it is given in the premise that US should ensure that current consumption level is not increasing for many years in the future and also the world resources are depleting. That clearly indicates that US consumption is the major reason for the depletion. E is exactly that .

Bhavita. · Answer

Why will C be incorrect .. negating C can break the conclusion i.e if US doesn't use more resources than any other country of world we cannot comment on US consumption. Also negating option E (curbing US resource consumption will not significantly retard depletion i.e it may retard but not significantly thus doesn;t break the conclusion) ... pLease correct if my understanding is wrong

SatvikVedala · Answer

Hi Bhavita

let me bring here my understanding of Options C & E

Option C states, " The United States uses more resources than any other country".  It may not be the case US is only the major consumer of resources but the author is suggesting US to curb its own consumption. For example, what if a country x is  on par (doesn't use more can include on par)  in terms of consumption with US.

Option D states, " Curbing U.S. resource consumption will significantly retard world resource depletion".  This option is more inline as it Question stem assumes curbing US resource consumption will significantly retard world resource depleation.

I may be wrong, but most questions in GMAT avoid comparision as answers, may be this simple hack can help eliminate wrong option out of the last 2 options left.

If you like the response, please give it a kudos

Thanks
Satvik

Chiragjj7 · Answer

Hi everyone , 
I understand E being the best choice but I don't understand the relevance of adding the word 'significantly' , doesn't this in a way reduces the correctness of the statement ?

A_Nishith · Answer

Premise: The earth's resources are being depleted much too fast.

Conclusion: To correct this, the United States must keep its resource consumption at present levels for many years to come.

(E) Curbing U.S. resource consumption will significantly retard world resource depletion.
E fills the GAP between Premise and Conclusion.

Negation Test:
(E) Curbing U.S. resource consumption will NOT significantly retard world resource depletion.
Then the conclusion
To correct this, the United States must keep its resource consumption at present levels for many years to come.
FALLS APART.

Answer: E

divyasaxena2825 · Answer

Option E. I simply negated and found only option E makes sense.

Freecs · Answer

When reading we can identify two gaps in the argument.

Gap 1: Depletion is different from consumption
Gap 2: Earth is different from the US

We are assuming that US consumption is causing the Earth Depletion.

A)  Incorrect, because negating it doesn't weaken the argument.

E)  Correct, because it addresses both gaps. If it is true that U.S. resource consumption will significantly retard world resource depletion, then it implies that U.S. consumption is indeed contributing to Earth's depletion. Negating this would weaken the argument. Another way to look at it is: if this statement is true, then the plan will work.

The earth's resources are being depleted much too fast. To correct thi

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