The materials used to make older model cars (those built before 1980)

Question

Editor of an automobile magazine: The materials used to make older model cars (those built before 1980) are clearly superior to those used to make late model cars (those built since 1980). For instance, all the 1960’s and 1970’s cars that I routinely inspect are in surprisingly good condition: they run well, all components work perfectly, and they have very little rust, even though many are over 50 years old. However, almost all of the late model cars I inspect that are over 10 years old run poorly, have lots of rust, and are barely fit to be on the road.

Which of the following is an assumption required by the argument above?

A) The quality of materials used in older model cars is not superior to those used to make other types of vehicles produced in the same time period.
B) Cars built before 1980 are not used for shorter trips than cars built since then.
C) Manufacturing techniques used in modern automobile plants are not superior to those used in plants before 1980.
D) Well maintained and seldom used older model vehicles are not the only ones still on the road.
E) Owners of older model vehicles take particularly good care of those vehicles

believer700 · Accepted Answer

Lets go through the answer choices :

A : The quality of materials used in older model cars is not superior to those used to make other types of vehicles produced in the same time period.

No comparison  between the older and newer models , so out of context.

B : Cars built before 1980 are not used for shorter trips than cars built since then.

Short trips or long trips? This really is not out concern, and even if we consider that the  older cars are used on longer trips then there are more chances of having rust,wear and tear etc , as it is being run on longer routes. Thus it cannot be considered as an Assumption.

C: Manufacturing techniques used in modern automobile plants are not superior to those used in plants before 1980.

We are concerned about the  material being used,talking about Manufacturing techniques is out of Scope.

E : Owners of older model vehicles take particularly good care of those vehicles

Same as C,  we are again concerned about the material being used  as the main comparison point  and not about the way owners are maintaining their cars.

D : Well maintained and seldom used older model vehicles are not the only ones still on the road.

The best answer choice.

Now as the Editor says :  For instance, all the 1960’s and 1970’s cars that I routinely inspect are in surprisingly good condition: they run well, all components work perfectly, and they have very little rust,

Lets take an example : There are 100 Older cars, but only 10 are being used and they are the well maintained ones, and the rest 90 are not taken out.

Whereas the new cars, lets again say there are 100 such cars, all 100 are on road, but only say 80 of them are well maintained, thus whenever the editor inspects the vehicle there is a probability of 0.2 that he may encounter not so well maintained cars, whereas while inspecting the older cars, the probability will be 0 of finding such cars, as they are never being taken out on road.

Thus D fixes this by stating : Well maintained and seldom used older model vehicles  are not the only ones still on the road. .

All the older make cars are on the road, and thus a fair comparison is being done.

Without  D , it could not have been properly concluded and thus this argument depends on the assumption that is put in answer choice D.

ShashankDave · Answer

Hi there! Can you please tell me the source of the question? I think the question is poorly constructed, as the answer choice has new information that older cars are  seldom used , and this has not been anywhere mentioned in the stimulus.

ShashankDave · Answer

Have read the post..it isn't convincing..my advice..don't bother yourself with this question..there are many very clearly explained ones out there..

arhumsid · Answer

None seems to be correct! If at all anything made sense to me it was option C (but that too is very weak).

And D, the given OA, I thought was out of scope. Where in the argument is it told that the cars being tested are "still on the road"??

I dunno whether im confused or this question is

Experts??

Icecream87 · Answer

Actually do bother yourselves with this question as it is a copy of an OG question on hotels.

Check it out:  https://gmatclub.com/forum/guidebook-writer-have-visited-hotels-throughout-the-country-80358.html

try to negate answer D: If only the well maintained (survivor) old cars are still on the road then we can not assert that older cars are better.

prabhakar09 · Answer

Its still not clear. 
The Option D says that these are not the only ones still on the road. Doesn't that mean the un-maintained older cars are also on the road. Very frequently used older cars are also on the road.

Also if we are assuming that the 10 well maintained cars are the only ones being used. and other 90 are not. aren't we using outside information (our common sense) and not the information on the passage

techiesam · Answer

Prabhakar

You are almost there,you just need to read the question onece again to pick answer choice D.
You are right that " Option D says that these are not the only ones still on the road. Doesn't that mean the un-maintained older cars are also on the road. Very frequently used older cars are also on the road.  ".

Now read the following part from the question,which says:

For instance, all the 1960’s and 1970’s cars that I routinely inspect are in surprisingly good condition: they run well, all components work perfectly, and they have very little rust, even though many are over 50 years old.

the editor says all the car that means the cars built before 1970 and on the roads are not only the car well maintained but the car that was roughly used also.That is the hidden assumption and that is exactly what D has said.

prabhakar09 · Answer

Thanks techie. this was quite confusing. but i think i got it now...

mvictor · Answer

my pre-thinked assumption -> the only inspected cars from 60-70 are not only those that were well maintained.
it perfectly fits with D.
if we negate D, then the argument breaks down, and the editor's opinion is no longer credible.

daboo343 · Answer

D) Well maintained and seldom used older model vehicles are not the only ones still on the road.
 is the correct ans 
negate option D Well maintained and seldom used older model vehicles are the only ones still on the road.
negated option D makes the conclusion less believable

umg4147 · Answer

Guys this is a perfectly okay question ad a matter of fact i have seen almost similar construction(Old Homes Question) from GMAT Prep and OG...

In this question he is saying that all the cars i see from old age are good and in well working condition, however when i see cars from the new age they are bad and rusted. He concludes by saying the materials must be better in those early cars.

Now do we know the cars he is inspecting represent the entire car population of 60s and 70s? I guess not It is assumed...

Hence lets attack the answer that says that :- All the cars are still on road and none have gone out of use...

D says the best (collectors item) are not the only ones, each and every car that was made in 60s and 70s are there...

Negate it only the collectors cars are there, hence falls the argument, the author is only inspecting the best...

I hope it helps.....

All Test Prep Companies try to do their best and non will try to make an in appropriate questions... After all these guys are 700 in excess....

LogicGuru1 · Answer

D  
  OPTION D IS THE CLEAR WINNER   
( well may be not so clear !! but none the less the right one  !)

Explaination:- 
 Assumption is an unstated premise. It's an evidence that is not mentioned in words in an argument. But Assumption is used freely to reach a conclusion. So it cannot be wrong. It's a correct hidden invisible premise. If the argument is valid and cogent and strong and if the argument makes use of an assumption, THEN the assumption have to be accepted as true.
 For example:- If you are lost in a jungle at night but you know that your home is in the east direction you will say to yourself. Let me wait until morning and then at sunrise i will go wherever direction the sun comes from. (why :- because the unstated premise or assumption is "SUN ALWAYS RISES IN THE EAST"). you don't have to tell that to yourself. You assume that since sun rises in the east , hence that is the direction you should walk to reach your home.

Similarly personalise the argument. How would you react to the editors argument. You will say "Older car are in better condition because they are maintained very well by their owner or such older cars are seldom driven. So they don't have as much wear and tear and looks beautiful." If you stop thinking at this point, then you will pick the attractive wrong answer E. But if you take argument to its logical conclusion. The editor will say to you:- "I thought so too, but the truth is that not all well maintained cars are on the roads, even badly maintained older cars (that have been neglected and abused in most horrific ways while driving) still looks and drive better than the new ones. 
CAN YOU REFUTE THE ARGUMENT AFTER THAT. PROBABLY NO. 
YOU WILL END UP SAYING:- ahhh.. in that case older cars are really better than new ones. 
What line made you changed your mind and give up further arguing with the editor. THAT LINE IS THE ANSWER. THE UNDER STATED PREMISE.THE ASSUMPTION 
D) Well maintained and seldom used older model vehicles are not the only ones still on the road.
 
  OPTION E  IS A HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE WRONG ANSWER THAT ACTUALLY WEAKENS THE ARGUMENT.  DONT PICK E

devikeerthan · Answer

Some leap of faith is required! if we see only the well maintained old cars now then we cannot compare the whole set of cars to another. Hence D is perfect

longhaul123 · Answer

The argument clear concludes that the materials are responsible for the good condition of the cars. But option D is the correct answer because it removes or refutes other reasons for the good condition and hence is the best answer. Is my reasoning correct?

nightblade354 · Answer

Hi  longhaul123 ,

The best way to approach assumption questions is to negate each answer. Negating is when you make the answer the opposite of what it says. If the argument falls apart, you have your answer. Let's see below:

Editor of an automobile magazine: The materials used to make older model cars (those built before 1980) are clearly superior to those used to make late model cars (those built since 1980). For instance, all the 1960’s and 1970’s cars that I routinely inspect are in surprisingly good condition: they run well, all components work perfectly, and they have very little rust, even though many are over 50 years old. However, almost all of the late model cars I inspect that are over 10 years old run poorly, have lots of rust, and are barely fit to be on the road.

Which of the following is an assumption required by the argument above?

A) The quality of materials used in older model cars is not superior to those used to make other types of vehicles produced in the same time period. --  The quality of older models IS superior to those used to make other types of vehicles.........  -- Does the argument fall apart? No, because other types of vehicles are out of scope.
B) Cars built before 1980 are not used for shorter trips than cars built since then. --  Cars built before 1980 ARE used for shorter trips  -- Not bad. Hold it. Further assumption needed: less ware and tear =  better looking  = nothing to do with car's material being better. The middle part is our further assumption. 
C) Manufacturing techniques used in modern automobile plants are not superior to those used in plants before 1980. --  Manufacturing techniques used in modern automobile plants ARE superior  -- This would strengthen the argument. Also, out of scope as we do not care about technique. We care just about the materials
D) Well maintained and seldom used older model vehicles are not the only ones still on the road. --  Welll maintained and seldom used older vehicles ARE the only ones on the road  -- If all he inspects are nice cars from this era, how do we know the materials are better? WINNER! This is better than B because it talks about the entire population of cars and directly attacks the argument. The conclusion falls apart with this one, but B makes us assume. 
E) Owners of older model vehicles take particularly good care of those vehicles --  Owners of older models vehicles DO NOT take particularly good care of those vehicles  This would strengthen the initial argument, hence incorrect

Does this help?

Ritz1605 · Answer

Even I thought the same, that new info is mentioned, according to me c is the answer.

AweG · Answer

VERITA SOLUTION

The major problem in this argument is that the reason all the very old cars are in such good shape might be because they are particularly well taken care of and/or not used very often (all the bad ones are long gone!). If the only 1960’s and 1970’s cars left on the road are meticulously maintained and taken care of, then it would appear that cars of that era contain better materials than later model cars, of which a larger cross section are still on the road. In (A), other types of vehicles are not relevant to this argument, which is only about cars. The length of trips is also not relevant to the argument so (B) is not correct. To analyze (C) and (D), you should use the assumption-negation technique (read these negative sentences affirmatively to see if they weaken the argument.) In (C), if manufacturing techniques used in modern plants ARE superior to those used with older cars, then it strengthens this argument (and remember when you use ANT it should weaken the argument!) as it suggests that the materials must be really good in older cars. In (D) if well-maintained and seldom used older vehicles ARE the only ones still on the road, this argument breaks down completely so (D) is thus the correct answer. If it is not only well maintained and seldom used older vehicles that are on the road and they are in such good shape, then it suggests that indeed they were made with better materials. (E) is quite tricky as it addresses the correct assumption but weakens this argument when the goal is to strengthen it. If owners of older model vehicles take particularly good care of those vehicles, then that might be the reason they appear in such good shape, not the better materials. Answer is (D)

sayan640 · Answer

why is option B wrong  KarishmaB   MartyMurray  ?

Posted from my mobile device

VerbalBot · Answer

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The materials used to make older model cars (those built before 1980)

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The materials used to make older model cars (those built before 1980)

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