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This question is absurd. Choice C is not a good answer because if there were 6 million children who were up for adoption and a total of 8 million couples wanted to adopt, and as per choice C, ALL of the 6 million children were adopted by 6 million couples. Thus, the remaining couples waiting to adopt, as given in the premise, are 2 million. So can we say that there are FAR fewer children for adoption - 6million - than there are willing couples - 8 million? I don't think so.

People are not reading choice A properly. It says (A) The number of couples waiting to adopt has increased significantly in the last decade. This directly implies that the current figure - 2 million - is an increase from the past decade. But, we don't know what happened before last decade, so this choice is also not the best.

Other choices are easy to eliminate and are wrong. None of the answers are clear here.
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Understanding the argument - ­
There are far fewer children available for adoption than there are people who want to adopt. - Conclusion. 
Two million couples are currently waiting to adopt, but in 1982, the last year for which figures exist, there were only some 50,000 adoptions. - Supporting premise. Mind you, it says "ADOPTIONS" and "number of children." What if 20 million children were available? Then, the conclusion will not hold. 

Which of the following statements, if true, most strengthens the author’s claim that there are far fewer children available for adoption than there are people who want to adopt?


(A) The number of couples waiting to adopt has increased significantly in the last decade. - We don't know about the number of children. 

(B) The number of adoptions in the current year is greater than the number of adoptions in any preceding year. - The increase in adoptions could be due to an improved adoption process. So, this option doesn't shed any light on the supply/demand aspect. 

(C) The number of adoptions in a year is approximately equal to the number of children available for adoption in that period. - Yes. It shows the gravity of the issue, meaning 100% adoption and still a gap of 1.95 million. Ok. 

(D) People who seek to adopt children often go through a long process of interviews and investigation by adoption agencies. - out of scope. 

(E) People who seek to adopt children generally make very good parents. - out of scope. 
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This would be true if both were talking about the same time period. What if there were only 50,000 people looking to adopt in 1982 and now the number has increased to 2 million. This option doesn't link 1982 and the current year. Please explain how it is strengthening the argument.

shalva
This argument is yet another example of "shift of the scope" trick that GMAC so loves to pull out.

Premise
Quote:
Two million couples are currently waiting to adopt, but in 1982, the last year for which figures exist, there were only some 50,000 adoptions.
That's simply a statement of fact. The number of people who want to adopt is compared with the number of adoptions

Conclusion
Quote:
There are far fewer children available for adoption than there are people who want to adopt.
In this conclusion number of people who want to adopt is compared with children available for adoption. This comparison is quite different from that in the premise. If we want to show validity of the conclusion - we somehow should establish following connection:

Number of adoptions == Number of children available for adoption

Answ (C) does exactly the same
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I believe C is the answer because its the only option thats telling us that very little children who are not adopted in a particular time period "carryforward" to be adopted in the next. D, E are trash. B is creating vagueness in the sense that its not period correct according to the passage and only tells us about last year. A is aslo ambiguos because its not telling us about the rise in children for adoption as the number of parents for adoption increase as well.
mojorising800
There are far fewer children available for adoption than there are people who want to adopt. Two million couples are currently waiting to adopt, but in 1982, the last year for which figures exist, there were only some 50,000 adoptions.

Which of the following statements, if true, most strengthens the author’s claim that there are far fewer children available for adoption than there are people who want to adopt?


(A) The number of couples waiting to adopt has increased significantly in the last decade.

(B) The number of adoptions in the current year is greater than the number of adoptions in any preceding year.

(C) The number of adoptions in a year is approximately equal to the number of children available for adoption in that period.

(D) People who seek to adopt children often go through a long process of interviews and investigation by adoption agencies.

(E) People who seek to adopt children generally make very good parents.
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