The geese that gather at the pond of a large corporation create a haza

Question

The geese that gather at the pond of a large corporation create a hazard for executives who use the corporate helicopter, whose landing site is 40 feet away from the pond. To solve the problem, the corporation plans to import a large number of herding dogs to keep the geese away from the helicopter.

Which of the following, if a realistic possibility, would cast the most serious doubt on the prospects for success of the corporation’s plan?

(A) The dogs will form an uncontrollable pack.

(B) The dogs will require training to learn to herd the geese.

(C) The dogs will frighten away foxes that prey on old and sick geese.

(D) It will be necessary to keep the dogs in quarantine for 30 days after importing them.

(E) Some of the geese will move to the pond of another corporation in order to avoid being herded by the dogs.

ID 16803

I thought "E" but that is not correct? Could someone help me understand why "E" is wrong?

Also please explain the choice that you think is correct?

Thanks
Ravi

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

The exact wording of the passage and answer choices are key to understanding why (A) correct and (C) is not.

First, note that the plan is to import a large number of " herding  dogs" -- this implies that the plan is not necessarily to  terrify  the geese, but to herd them away from the helicopter and the rather wimpy corporate executives.

With this understanding, take another look at (A):
 
If the dogs form an uncontrollable pack, how will they herd the geese away from the helicopter? Sure, they may still frighten the geese -- but they would be just as likely to frighten the geese  toward  the helicopter as away from it. Or the dogs could just run away altogether, leaving the geese to continue menacing the corporate executives. The plan in the passage relies on the dogs performing a very specific task --  keeping the geese away from the helicopter.  If they form an uncontrollable pack, they are unlikely to naturally perform this specific task.

(A) casts doubt on whether the plan will be successful, so keep it for now.

Now look at (C):
 
Think about the timeline implied by this answer choice:  before  the imported dogs arrive, the geese are a hazard to corporate executives,  even though  foxes are preying on the old and sick members of the flock. This tells us that the old and sick geese are NOT the primary problem -- the younger and/or healthier geese are the ones threatening our precious executives!

So, by frightening away the foxes that prey on the old and sick geese, the dogs are not necessarily making the situation worse. Furthermore, if the dogs are successful at keeping the geese away from the helicopter, this would presumably include ALL of the geese -- the old and sick as well as the young and healthy. So, the fact that foxes will no longer prey on the old and sick geese does not have a significant impact on how successful the plan will be.

(C) does not cast doubt on the plan's potential for success, so eliminate (C).

Note that we are not looking for an answer choice that spells absolute doom for the plan in question -- we just need to determine which answer choice "cast  the  most serious doubt  on the prospects for success of the corporation’s plan."

(A) casts the most doubt on the plan's potential for success, so (A) is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!

ChrisLele · Answer

The problem the corporation is dealing with is animals getting in the way of the helicopter launching pad. At present the culprits are the geese. If we bring in herding dogs to keep the geese away from the helipad that would be a great solution...unless the herding dogs get in the way of the helipad. And how can that happen? Well, if the dogs are uncontrollable and run around everywhere.

(A) speaks directly to this. So it is the answer.

(E) does NOT undermine the plan. Remember: the plan is to keep the helipad clear. If some geese go running off to another pond then they are clearly not blocking the helipad. If (E) were the case, it would strengthen the plan of bringing in herding dogs to keep geese away from the helipad.

Hope that helps

AbeinOhio · Answer

A - I think this is best - if this is true the plan will not work 
 B - Corporation will probably be OK with providing training 
 C - irrelevant as it talks about old and sick geese only 
 D - there is no mention of needing to solve the problem within the next 30 days so irrelevant 
 E - this would solve the problem of this corporation so why would they care if the geese move - this actually strengthens the argument

caljwill · Answer

(A) The dogs will form an uncontrollable pack -  interesting, can we assume the uncontrollable pack will be a hazard? We'll come back to this one

(B) The dogs will require training to learn to herd the geese. -  This doesn't seem like a major hurdle, so this one is out

(C) The dogs will frighten away foxes that prey on old and sick geese. -  hmmm... well if there are no more foxes, than old and sick geese may still be a hazard. We'll come back to this one

(D) It will be necessary to keep the dogs in quarantine for 30 days after importing them.(A) -  Again, this doesn't seem like a major hurdle, as there are no particular time constraints outlined in the prompt, so this one is out

(E) Some of the geese will move to the pond of another corporation in order to avoid being herded by the dogs. -  We aren't really concerned about another corporation's pond, so this is irrelevant and also out

Ultimately this comes down to Choices A & C.

A seems a little questionable to me, as an uncontrollable pack of herding dogs certainly COULD be a hazard, but it isn't necessarily a problem if they stay away from the Helipad.

C, however, at second glance isn't as solid as it seemed originally. While less foxes may mean the old and sick geese are not eliminated as quickly, we have no evidence to suggest the herding dogs would be any less effective at scaring them away than any of the other geese.

Ultimately, the answer must be A (full disclosure, I originally chose C). I still feel A is a bit weak, as we are required to make an assumption that the uncontrollable pack will also create a hazard, but this seems like a reasonable assumption to make, and at the very least, is more reasonable to make than to assume the old and sick geese will someone be immune to the herding dogs.

dcummins · Answer

The plan is to import a large number of dogs to herd and keep the geese away from the helicopter. (herd is implicit in the name herding dog).

We are asked to weaken the probability the plan will work. 
A is correct - if the dogs cant be controlled then they can't be used to herd the geese; thus, the plan will fail.
B points out a barrier to achieving the goal, but doesn't point out a fatal flaw. Incorrect
C may trick the reader into thinking that foxes are a greater prey on the geese. This may be true, but this still doesn't debunk the plan as the geese can be herded away still. 
D this is another barrier to the plan, but it doesn't point out why the plan could fail. 
E actually tells us the plan will work, so this is obviously wrong.

ArtVandaley · Answer

Isnt the arguement focused on solving the problem created by geeze?

Problem statement: The geese that gather at the pond of a large corporation create a hazard for executives 
Expected outcome : To solve the problem
Method : Get dogs

Now between A & C, A says that the dogs could be uncontrollable. Still, they still may be able to frighten the geeze and solve the problem. Not a definite weakener. 
C says that they may terrify those agents geeze are afraid of. So it gives a possibility that geeze will roam around more freely. Could be a weakener. Though a very mild one. But still better than A IMO.

Besides, How come dogs becoming uncontrollable and hence posing the threat a problem within the scope of the arguement?

Can experts share insights?  egmat   mikemcgarry   GMATNinja

ScottK · Answer

A--> The only answer choice that makes sense

B--> So what, they need to provide training
C--> We are not worried about the foxes and we are not only worried about the old sick geese. In fact, the old sick ones are likely not the problem.
D--> Keeping dogs in quarantine for 30 days is not discussed as an issue in the statement. There is no time table discussed. Irrelevant.
E--> If the geese move to another pond that is not a problem of this company. Irrelevant.

A--> Correct. If the dogs form an uncontrollable pack that could even render the helicopter pad unusable for the company as they may be more afraid of the dogs than they are worried about the geese.

agrasan · Answer

Hi  KarishmaB   MartyMurray

(C) The dogs will frighten away foxes that prey on old and sick geese.

Can we say that (C) is wrong because we don't know geese gathering at the pond are  young  or  old-sick ? (C) would require an assumption to make it correct.

Please let me know if I faltered somewhere.

guddo · Answer

The geese that gather at the pond of a large corporation create a hazard for executives who use the corporate helicopter, whose landing site is 40 feet away from the pond. To solve the problem, the corporation plans to import a large number of herding dogs to keep the geese away from the helicopter. 
 
Which of the following, if a realistic possibility, would cast the most serious doubt on the prospects for success of the corporation’s plan?

Geese near a pond create a hazard for helicopter landings nearby. The company plans to bring in many herding dogs to keep the geese away from the helicopter area. The best doubt is something that would make the dogs ineffective or create a worse safety problem.

(A) The dogs will form an uncontrollable pack.

If the dogs become uncontrollable, they may not herd geese reliably and could create their own hazard near the landing site. That directly threatens the plan’s ability to solve the safety problem.  Strongest doubt.

(B) The dogs will require training to learn to herd the geese.

Needing training affects timing and cost, but it does not show the plan cannot work.

(C) The dogs will frighten away foxes that prey on old and sick geese.

This could increase goose population over time, but it is indirect and speculative compared with a direct failure of the dogs to be manageable.

(D) It will be necessary to keep the dogs in quarantine for 30 days after importing them.

This delays implementation, but it does not cast serious doubt on eventual success.

(E) Some of the geese will move to the pond of another corporation in order to avoid being herded by the dogs.

That actually helps, since fewer geese remain near the helicopter.

Answer: (A)

AbhishekP220108 · Answer

Hi  agrasan  in my opinion, C is wrong because, as per C, it scares away the foxes who prey on old and sick geese, even if they scares away the foxes the plan to introduce herding dogs can still be helpful. Whether they are young, sick or old it doesn't matter much, we need to weaken the effectiveness of plan and C is not doing anything.

Hope this helps

guddo · Answer

Yes, that is basically the right rejection, but I’d tighten the logic like this:

(C) is weak because it only affects geese  indirectly  by removing fox predation on old or sick geese, and the hazard is the current geese near the landing site. To make (C) seriously threaten the plan, you’d have to assume that foxes are a major control on the goose population  and  that losing them would quickly increase the number of geese near the helicopter. That extra assumption is not given, so (C) does not cast  serious  doubt.

KarishmaB · Answer

Not really. The aim of the plan is to remove the hazard to the helicopters. The copters are getting troubled by geese. (C) says that the dogs will frighten away foxes too who prey on some geese - so basically that the dogs will frighten away the prey and the predator. Irrelevant that the dogs will frighten away the predator too. Anyway the predators (foxes) are unable to keep the menace of the geese away. 
Even if it were given that dogs will frighten away the foxes that prey on geese of all ages, still we know that the foxes are unable to control the geese menace to the helicopters. So the foxes angle is irrelevant. The geese are a menace and as long as the dogs are removing the menace (without adding an additional menace), the plan will work.

MartyMurray · Answer

The geese that gather at the pond of a large corporation create a hazard for executives who use the corporate helicopter, whose landing site is 40 feet away from the pond. To solve the problem, the corporation plans to import a large number of herding dogs to keep the geese away from the helicopter.

Reading the passage, we see that this is a Plan question. In other words, the passage presents a purpose of a plan and the plan.

The purpose of the plan is the following:

solve the problem (geese that gather at the pond of a large corporation create a hazard for executives who use the corporate helicopter, whose landing site is 40 feet away from the pond)

The plan is the following:

import a large number of herding dogs to keep the geese away from the helicopter

We see that the corporation's reasoning is the following: Herding dogs, which tend to herd other animals by barking and chasing them, will be effective in keeping the geese away from the helicopter because they will bark at, chase, and otherwise get the geese to stay away from the landing site.

Which of the following, if a realistic possibility, would cast the most serious doubt on the prospects for success of the corporation’s plan?

The correct answer will provide a reason to believe that the plan will not achieve its purpose.

(A) The dogs will form an uncontrollable pack.

This choice is interesting.

If the dogs will form an uncontrollable pack, then the plan may not work, particularly if the "herding" dogs are meant to herd the geese. After all, an uncontrollable pack may just run around randomly without paying attention to the geese, and such a pack might even create a new hazard at the landing site.

At the same time, uncontrolled dogs could still chase away geese. So, it's not 100 percent clear that this choice is the correct answer since, even if the dogs form an uncontrollable pack, they still may eliminate the hazard. So, the move here is to keep this choice and go through the others to see whether there's one that's more clearly correct.

Keep for now and continue through the choices.

(B) The dogs will require training to learn to herd the geese.

This choice indicates that training is a requirement of the plan. That doesn't mean that the plan won't work. After all, requirements can be met.

At the same time, an aspect of this choice that's interesting is that it provides a clue regarding what the writer of this question was thinking is correct. We see from what this choice says that the question writer's idea is that the dogs will "herd" the geese. Probably, for them to herd geese after "training," the dogs can't be in "an uncontrollable pack." So, this choice helps to confirm that (A) is correct by showing that the idea of the plan is for the dogs to "herd" the geese, something dogs in an uncontrollable pack may be unlikely to do.

Eliminate.

(C) The dogs will frighten away foxes that prey on old and sick geese.

This choice is interesting because it could be taken as indicating that the dogs will work against the success of the plan by frightening away foxes that are reducing the goose population.

At the same time, we can eliminate this choice for the following reasons.

First, the actions of the foxes are not solving of the problem. After all, even though the foxes are preying on geese, geese are still creating a hazard. So, frightening away the foxes won't eliminate a solution.

Also, as long as the dogs chase away the geese, it doesn't matter that the foxes won't be preying on geese. The geese still won't be creating a hazard.

So, this choice doesn't materially change what we know about the plan.

Eliminate.

(D) It will be necessary to keep the dogs in quarantine for 30 days after importing them.

Thirty days is not forever. So, once the 30 days are up, the plan can work.

Eliminate.

(E) Some of the geese will move to the pond of another corporation in order to avoid being herded by the dogs.

The point of the plan is to stop geese from creating a hazard at this corporation's landing site, not to keep geese away from all ponds of all corporations.

So, even if some geese move to the pond of another corporation, the plan could still be considered a success. After all, if the geese have gone to another pond, then they won't be creating a hazard at this landing site.

Meanwhile, this choice, like (B), tends to confirm that the writer of this question had the idea that the plan is for the geese to be "herded by the dogs," an outcome that may be unlikely to occur if the dogs are in an "uncontrollable pack." So, as with (B), we can use what this choice says to be more confident that (A) is correct.

Eliminate.

So, since (A) is the only choice that provides any reason why the plan wouldn't work and since (B) and (E) provide reason to believe that the idea of the plan is that the dogs will herd the geese, rather than just run around uncontrollably, we can confidently choose (A) as the correct answer.

Correct answer:   A

MartyMurray · Answer

Notice that it doesn't matter whether all, some, or none of the geese are old and sick. Apparently, the geese are creating a hazard regardless of what the foxes are doing to any that are old and sick and that dogs could herd away the geese regardless of the condition of the geese.

The geese that gather at the pond of a large corporation create a haza

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The geese that gather at the pond of a large corporation create a haza

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