The Dear One Baby Carrier is the safest and most comfortable baby carr

Another tough one --> My answer: B (Awaiting OA)

The Dear One Baby Carrier is the safest and most comfortable baby carrier available today. The hard plastic exterior retains its shape when subjected to minor impacts, while the thick interior “comfort pad” acts as a shock absorber. The design is based on the results of the most comprehensive baby carrier study performed to date, which analyzed comfort preferences both of infants placed inside the carriers and of adults carrying the devices. As a bonus, the Dear One Baby Carrier converts easily from an at-large carrier to a car seat, reducing the risk to infants when they are being transferred from a carrier to a car seat.

Which of the following, if true, would most undermine the safety and comfort claims made about the Dear One Baby Carrier?

(A) The hard plastic exterior of the Dear One Baby Carrier does not retain its shape when dropped from an average carrying height. -This doesn't mean that the carrier is not safe. Maybe the shock absorbents absorb the shock very well that the outer layer can be made by using a lighter substance.
(B) On average, the number of babies injured each year while riding in a car seat is greater than the number of babies injured each year while being transferred from a carrier to a car seat. -Correct. If the number of babies injured while riding a car is more than the number of babies injured while being transferred to the car, then that means that the carrier won't be safe most of the times.
(C) According to the study on which the design of the Dear One Baby Carrier was based, the percentage of infants who prefer the comfort of a baby carrier scheduled to be released next year by a rival company is significantly higher than the percentage of infants who prefer the comfort of the Dear One Baby Carrier. -We are not worried about the comfort.
(D) Studies suggest that car seats that double as baby carriers are, on average, slightly less safe than single-function baby car seats. -Okay, this option is comparing the car seat with the carrier. But, it doesn't mean that the carrier is not safe. For example, if a person uses an iphone and another one uses a google pixel, it doesn't mean that the pixel is not good. It's just that out of the two, iphone is better.
(E) A rival company has successfully replicated the design of the Dear One Baby Carrier while utilizing a new type of plastic that is significantly stronger and lighter than the type used in the Dear One Baby Carrier. -We are not worried about the rival company's achievements

IMO D

ArguementL D one (Dear One) is safer and comfortable

Task: undermine safety/comfort

(A) The hard plastic exterior of the Dear One Baby Carrier does not retain its shape when dropped from an average carrying height. (OFS)
(B) On average, the number of babies injured each year while riding in a car seat is greater than the number of babies injured each year while being transferred from a carrier to a car seat. (this supports D one)
(C) According to the study on which the design of the Dear One Baby Carrier was based, the percentage of infants who prefer the comfort of a baby carrier scheduled to be released next year by a rival company is significantly higher than the percentage of infants who prefer the comfort of the Dear One Baby Carrier. (okay, but does this undermine their original claim?)
(D) Studies suggest that car seats that double as baby carriers are, on average, slightly less safe than single-function baby car seats. (Best option explaining why D one is not not as safe as advertised)
(E) A rival company has successfully replicated the design of the Dear One Baby Carrier while utilizing a new type of plastic that is significantly stronger and lighter than the type used in the Dear One Baby Carrier. (OFS)

Hi GMAT121217,

In my opinion Option D is not correct. Because argument neither talks about "Car Seat double as baby carriers" nor about "Single function baby Car seats" (both describing about car seats). These issues are out of scope/irrelevant according to argument.
BTW i am stuck between option A and option E

Hope it helps.

Thanks

Claim made by the company: The Dear One Baby Carrier is the safest and most comfortable baby carrier available today. The answer has to show that its not the safest and most comfortable..

Any option that shows us that some other brand >The Dear One Baby Carrier in terms of safety and comfort wins. Option E just does that.

A
This baby carrier encourages parents to transfer babies with it but is not safe when transferring = higher risk
B
Applies to all car seats not only this one
C
We are not concerned with what infants prefer
D
On average slightly less safe. Too general and wordy
E
Stronger and lighter does not equte to safer and more comfortable

So A for me

Took me 4:14 minutes to solve this

But I just wanted to be sure, since I had got the last QOTD wrong, because of a silly mistake.

Let me highlight the important portions of the passage:

CONCLUSION : The Dear One Baby Carrier is the safest and most comfortable baby carrier available today.

Premise : The hard plastic exterior retains its shape when subjected to minor impacts, while the thick interior “comfort pad” acts as a shock absorber. The design is based on the results of the most comprehensive baby carrier study performed to date, which analyzed comfort preferences both of infants placed inside the carriers and of adults carrying the devices. As a bonus, the Dear One Baby Carrier converts easily from an at-large carrier to a car seat, reducing the risk to infants when they are being transferred from a carrier to a car seat.

We need to weaken the argument, so we are looking for an answer option, which would tell us that DOBC is not the safest and comfortable carrier.

Which of the following, if true, would most undermine the safety and comfort claims made about the Dear One Baby Carrier?

(A) The hard plastic exterior of the Dear One Baby Carrier does not retain its shape when dropped from an average carrying height.
[Irrelevant: Even if it does not retain, that does not mean that it is not the "safest" and "most comfortable carrier"]

(B) On average, the number of babies injured each year while riding in a car seat is greater than the number of babies injured each year while being transferred from a carrier to a car seat.
[The last part of the premise about carrier and car seat, was just a bonus feature, so even if that was not satisfied, doesn't mean that DOBC is not the safest - discarded this option]

(C) According to the study on which the design of the Dear One Baby Carrier was based, the percentage of infants who prefer the comfort of a baby carrier scheduled to be released next year by a rival company is significantly higher than the percentage of infants who prefer the comfort of the Dear One Baby Carrier.
[This option took up a lot of time - but I eliminated it using two reasons - rival carrier will be released next year, so as of now DOBC is the most comfortable! And nothing has been mentioned about the safety of the rival company, hence this does not undermine the argument completely - Hence removed]

(D) Studies suggest that car seats that double as baby carriers are, on average, slightly less safe than single-function baby car seats.
[Discarded it because of the same reasons mentioned in Option B ]

(E) A rival company has successfully replicated the design of the Dear One Baby Carrier while utilizing a new type of plastic that is significantly stronger and lighter than the type used in the Dear One Baby Carrier.
[Now this could undermine the argument because - The replication is done! So now we have a rival who has a better product than DOBC, hence DOBC cannot be the safest and most comfortable.]

Correct Answer : E

I have some trouble interpreting the conclusion - what it implies - it says 'Which of the following, if true, would most undermine the safety and comfort claims made about the Dear One Baby Carrier?' --> This can mean EITHER A) DOBC is not as safe as it claims (for whatever reason) or B) OTHER BRANDS can be safer

This deems both B and E correct --> B) says "On average, the number of babies injured each year while riding in a car seat is greater than the number of babies injured each year while being transferred from a carrier to a car seat." - [u]its a bonus, but it does reduce the veracity of the claim made by DOBC. For instance, even if 10 parents who bought the DOBC and used the bonus feature experienced some safety issues while riding with their baby [not transferring only], DOBC maybe deemed unsafe, thus undermining the conclusion[/u]
E) says 'A rival company has successfully replicated the design of the Dear One Baby Carrier while utilizing a new type of plastic that is significantly stronger and lighter than the type used in the Dear One Baby Carrier.' - this again doesn't undermine the claim, it just says xyz new brand is better at the safety than DOBC - but that doesn't mean DOBC is any less safe.

Request any help, especially experts, in clearing my reasoning. I'm sure there will be more questions like these

The passage does not claim that babies riding in a DOBC car seat are 100% safe from injury. The passage simply claims that the DOBC is the safest baby carrier available today.

Choice (B) highlights that more babies are injured while riding in car seats than while being transferred to car seats. This makes sense (driving is by nature dangerous, while simply transferring a baby to a car seat is no riskier than putting a baby in a high chair or a crib). But does this make the DOBC unsafe? Who knows. Maybe babies are actually slightly safer riding in DOBC car seats than in other car seats. Choice (B) does not allow us to compare the DOBC to other car seats.

Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid car accidents, but this does not go against the claims in the passage. The car seats obviously do not CAUSE those accidents, but are babies riding in a DOBC car seat safer, less safe, or just as safe as babies riding in another car seat? We have no idea, and as long as the DOBC is safer than OTHER carriers, choice (B) does not impact the safety claims.

I hope that helps!

CONCLUSION: The Dear One Baby Carrier is the safest and most comfortable baby carrier available today.

Premise: The hard plastic exterior retains its shape when subjected to minor impacts, while the thick interior “comfort pad” acts as a shock absorber. The design is based on the results of the most comprehensive baby carrier study performed to date, which analyzed comfort preferences both of infants placed inside the carriers and of adults carrying the devices. As a bonus, the Dear One Baby Carrier converts easily from an at-large carrier to a car seat, reducing the risk to infants when they are being transferred from a carrier to a car seat.

We need to weaken the argument, so we are looking for an answer option, which would tell us that DOBC is not the safest and comfortable carrier.

Which of the following, if true, would most undermine the safety and comfort claims made about the Dear One Baby Carrier?

(A) The hard plastic exterior of the Dear One Baby Carrier does not retain its shape when dropped from an average carrying height.
[Irrelevant: Even if it does not retain, that does not mean that it is not the "safest" and "most comfortable carrier"]

(B) On average, the number of babies injured each year while riding in a car seat is greater than the number of babies injured each year while being transferred from a carrier to a car seat.
[The last part of the premise about carrier and car seat, was just a bonus feature, so even if that was not satisfied, doesn't mean that DOBC is not the safest - discarded this option]

(C) According to the study on which the design of the Dear One Baby Carrier was based, the percentage of infants who prefer the comfort of a baby carrier scheduled to be released next year by a rival company is significantly higher than the percentage of infants who prefer the comfort of the Dear One Baby Carrier.
[This option took up a lot of time - but I eliminated it using two reasons - rival carrier will be released next year, so as of now DOBC is the most comfortable! And nothing has been mentioned about the safety of the rival company, hence this does not undermine the argument completely - Hence removed]

(D) Studies suggest that car seats that double as baby carriers are, on average, slightly less safe than single-function baby car seats.
[Discarded it because of the same reasons mentioned in Option B ]

(E) A rival company has successfully replicated the design of the Dear One Baby Carrier while utilizing a new type of plastic that is significantly stronger and lighter than the type used in the Dear One Baby Carrier.
[Now this could undermine the argument because - The replication is done! So now we have a rival who has a better product than DOBC, hence DOBC cannot be the safest and most comfortable.]

Correct Answer: E

GMATNinja

I picked (A) because I thought that it attacked the premise that the carrier's hard plastic exterior would retain its shape when subjected to minor impacts.

Isn't the fact that just dropping the carrier from an average carrying height will compromise its shape, then, providing new info that destroys the claim's validity?

Ex. Oops I dropped it! Oh no, the shape just got warped, even though the company promised it wouldn't even against minor impacts.

Or am I assuming too much?
i.e. minor impact definition or average carrying height definition?

Thanks!

As you noted, the key is the distinction between a "minor impact" and the impact "when dropped from an average carrying height". In order for (A) to be correct, we would have to assume that dropping the carrier from an average carrying height would only result in a "minor impact", and that might not be the case.

In other words, if faced with the statement in choice (A), the author could easily reply, "I said that the hard plastic exterior retains its shape when subjected to minor impacts. Dropping the carrier from an average carrying height does not constitute a minor impact."

I hope that helps!

Just because the rival has designed a similar product doesn't mean its out in the market??!
i feel E is wrong because language is not precise!

If we read the claim, option E jumps out as the correct answer.

Claim - 'The Dear One Baby Carrier is the safest and most comfortable baby carrier in the market. That means it is the best in terms of safety and comfort.

All we need to show is that it is not the best. Some other product is.

A,B,D add nothing to this context. hence can be eliminated

C- 'design on which' DOBC is based - means that they are not the same. There can be variations to the design that can make the new product inferior in terms of safety .
E- states that it has all the features of DOBC plus an improvement. Hence, this product can take over the #1 position that DOBC has claimed in the first sentence.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi GMATNinja -

When one reviews the conclusion



Are
i) single-function baby car seats [mentioned in option D end]
ii) Car seats that convert to Baby Carriers [mentioned in option D beggining]
iii) Baby Carriers that convert to Car Seats [mentioned in question stem]

Are all three structure s- types of baby carriers ?

I only thought (ii) and (iii) were baby carriers. (i) may or may not be considered a baby carrier

Hence i eliminatd D thinking -- option (i) is mentioned in answer D) but we dont even know if (i) is a baby carrier to begin with

Fair strategy or just got lucky you think ?

Thanks !

Although you have a point, the reasoning laid out in this post is definitely more solid. This is because if the Dear One Baby Carrier was unsafe when placed in a car, then it would likely not be the safest baby carrier. You could argue that, when it functions as a car seat, it has ceased to be a baby carrier. But the product is still a baby carrier at its core.

So, its safety when placed in a car is relevant — even if we’re not comparing it to a car seats because they technically aren’t baby carriers.

I hope that helps!

Hi GMATNinja - thank you so much for responding. If my understanding is correct - you eliminated D because of the word Average

By definition, an Average implies -- there will some cases indicating car seats that double as baby carriers are equally or even more safe than single-function baby car seats.

An average by definition will have some points above the mean or equal to the mean.

Hence if option D variant had removed the word "Average" - then this option D variant would be a weakener

(Option D variant) Studies suggest that car seats that double as baby carriers are, on average, slightly less safe than single-function baby car seats.

In this case -- this would be a legitimate weakener per your understanding correct ?

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