Temporary-services firms supply trained workers to other companies on

Question

Temporary-services firms supply trained workers to other companies on a temporary basis. Temporary-services firms lose business when the economy shows signs of beginning to weaken. They gain business when the economy begins to recover but often lose business again when the economy stabilizes. These firms have begun to gain business in the present weak economy. The economy therefore must be beginning to recover.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the above argument depends?

(A) Temporary-services firms are more likely to regain old clients than to acquire new ones when the economy begins to recover
(B) Temporary-services firms do not gain business when an already weak economy worsens
(C) New companies do not often hire temporary help until they have been in business for some time
(D) Companies that use workers from temporary-services firms seldom hire those workers to fill permanent positions
(E) Temporary-services firms can most easily find qualified new workers when the economy is at its weakest

ID: 500395

05695

Abhishek009 · Accepted Answer

Economy.png Try to negate option (B) firms gain business when an already weak economy worsens Negating option (B) makes the argument fall apart, hence this is the correct answer...

Kurtosis · Answer

Economy shows signs of weakening - Temporary services firms lose business
Economy begins to recover - Temporary services firms gain business
Economy stabilizes - Temp services firms again lose business

Current situation: Weak economy and firms are gaining business --> Economy is beginning to recover

For the above situation to hold true, temp services firms must not gain business in a deteriorating economy.

A) Temporary-services firms are more likely to regain old clients than to acquire new ones when the economy begins to recover - Incorrect - Out of context. Regaining old client does not suggest that the economy is beginning to recover

B) Temporary-services firms do not gain business when an already weak economy worsens - Correct - Aligns to our assumption

C) New companies do not often hire temporary help until they have been in business for some time - Incorrect - Out of scope

D) Companies that use workers from temporary-services firms seldom hire those workers to fill permanent positions - Incorrect - Out of scope.

E) Temporary-services firms can most easily find qualified new workers when the economy is at its weakest - Incorrect - Even if this happens, temp services can function with current workers. So this does not affect the argument.

Answer: B

KarishmaB · Answer

Temp firms lose business when economy weakens.
They gain business when economy begins to recover. 
They lose business when economy stabilises.

They have started gaining business.

Conclusion: Economy must be recovering.

By concluding that the economy must be recovering, we are assuming that they gain business only when economy recovers. That there is no other condition that could lead them to gain business.

A) Temporary-services firms are more likely to regain old clients than to acquire new ones when the economy begins to recover

Old or new clients is irrelevant. We are talking about business in general.

B) Temporary-services firms do not gain business when an already weak economy worsens

Correct. We are assuming that temp firms do not gain business in any other condition. So we are assuming that they do not gain business when an already weak economy worsens (another condition).

C) New companies do not often hire temporary help until they have been in business for some time.

Who gives business to these temp firms is irrelevant.

D) Companies that use workers from temporary-services firms seldom hire those workers to fill permanent positions

This option tells us that companies hire these workers for temporary positions, not permanent ones. So when their business needs change the positions can be removed/added back etc. Do we need to assume this? No. We don't care which positions are filled by these temp workers. Our concern is the number of positions companies have for these temp workers. 
Even if companies use temp workers to fill some permanent positions and keep switching people on these positions every few months/years, it doesn't matter. We already know that the business of temp firms changes as per the status of the economy. Why and how that happens is outside our scope (temp positions are removed when business goes down, new positions are added when business starts recovering etc).
We need to focus on only the gap in our reasoning. Whether temp companies gaining business means economy is recovering.

E) Temporary-services firms can most easily find qualified new workers when the economy is at its weakest.

Irrelevant how temp firms hire workers.

Answer (B)

imtiaz009 · Answer

Using negation for option B) Temporary-services firms  do   gain business when an already weak economy worsens
is just opposite of what is stated in the conclusion and hence it weakens the conclusion
Thus correct option is B

meenakshimiyer · Answer

Using negation for option B) Temporary-services firms do gain business when an already weak economy worsens
is just opposite of what is stated in the conclusion and hence it weakens the conclusion
Hence, B is the answer.

celo700 · Answer

Conclusion: Temporary-services firms begun to gain business, hence economy must be recovering.

Assumption: 
1. Firms do not gain business when the economy is beginning to weaken.
2. Firms do not gain business when the economy stabilizes.

There is no discussion about old clients/ new ones in the entire passage. Out of scope.

In line with assumption 1.

Out of scope.

Again out of scope. No discussion about permanent positions.

The ease of finding workers for the temporary - services firms is out of scope.

PelumiOgunlana · Answer

I got this one wrong as I thought B was a restatement of what was already said, but I guess that is an assumption.

nhatanh811 · Answer

Bunuel , this is a Gmatprep question, please tag. Thanks!

Bunuel · Answer

________________________
Added the tag. Thank you.

Ansh777 · Answer

sayantanc2k   GMATNinja 
Please help me understand option B.

Because no other option is even close to premise or conclusion, I choose option B, which is apparently correct.
But isn't it already stated as a fact that   Firm looses business when economy weaken  . Now even if already weak economy worsens, economy is actually getting weak so firm should loose business not gain.

mSKR · Answer

yes , the economy is losing business when already weak economy weakens.

You changed this question into general form.
Y happens only when X happen . i.e. X--- > Y
X: Economy recovers
Y: gain business

Now it is given that Y won't happen if U (weakens) , V (stable)

Now Conclusion : Y Happens it means it is because of X
How can we strengthen it? 
When we remove other possibilities of happening Y
Now B options says: Y won't happen if W happens
W= already weak becomes weaken

Imagine: If W can make Y happen then , conclusion will fall apart . Means Y happens , we can't say it is because of X.
In other words: Economy is recovering will fall apart if we come to know that business also increase when already weak becomes weaken.

I hope it is clear.

JuccGMAT · Answer

Conclusion:- The economy therefore must be beginning to recover

We need to look into the information that is not stated in the Argument and that doesn't break the argument's conclusion. 
  i.e.  There shouldn't be any other sign of economy from which Temporary-services gain business    because if we able to find any other sign of economy from which the Temporary-services gain business then the information will not support the argument conclusion.
So, as per the given information:-
1.When the economy shows signs of beginning to weaken- Temporary-services  firms lose business
2.When the economy stabilizes -  Temporary-services  lose business 
Now look for the information that states that Temporary-services don't gain business in any other sign of economy.
Choice B is the prefect match.

Mrozhko · Answer

Well, I'm not an expert but lemme see if I can help you.

The author's conclusion is that the economy is getting better, considering that firms are gaining business. However, in what scenario, firms are gaining business and the economy is not getting better. Imagine that there is might be a case in which the economy is worsening, but firms are still getting the business, in that case, the conclusion will be weakened.

Knowing that you have to find the assumption, negating the scenario in which the economy is worsening and firms are gaining business will lead you to a correct answer choice in this case. Answer choice B correctly states the negated version of the given scenario -   (B) Temporary-services firms do not gain business when an already weak economy worsens.  So if you negate this answer choice, the conclusion will break, and it is important to remember that the conclusion breaks when the correct assumption is negated. Hence, the correct answer choice is B.

Hope it helps.

kadamhari825 · Answer

Hello experts 
 KarishmaB   nightblade354   AndrewN

Though i understood why correct option is B. But i could not eliminate option D.

My reasoning was if company seldom hires workers for full time work then it is eliminating possible alternative, which will not help to fill the gap in the argument. By doing so we are making conclusion most obvious.

Please correct me if i am making mistake in understanding.

Thanks and Regards

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  kadamhari825 . You are employing what I call one-step-removed logic to fit a given set of circumstances. The argument in question is based on temporary-services firms and the predictions that can be made about the economy from such firms gaining or losing business. We do not need to assume anything about the frequency with which workers from temporary-services firms are hired by contracting companies. This is to say that, regardless of whether these companies more or less often hire workers from temporary-services firms, the claim that the economy is on the upswing is rooted in the premise that the temporary-services firms  have begun to gain business in the temporary weak economy . Our goal in an assumption question is not to explore possible details within a given premise or, worse yet, to make our own assumptions, but to find a missing link between premise and conclusion. If you test (D) in such a manner, you will expose its lack of relevance:

Premise #1 :   gain business when the economy begins to recover.

Premise #2 : These firms have begun to gain business in the present weak economy.

Assumption  : Companies that use workers from temporary-services firms seldom hire those workers to fill permanent positions.

Conclusion : The economy therefore must be beginning to recover.  
The so-called assumption seems to be providing nothing more than additional information that halts the progression of ideas from premise to conclusion.

If you test (B) in the same way, you can appreciate how it serves as a necessary stepping stone.

Premise #1 :   gain business when the economy begins to recover.

Premise #2 : These firms have begun to gain business in the present weak economy.

Assumption  : Temporary-services firms do not gain business when an already weak economy worsens.

Conclusion : The economy therefore must be beginning to recover.

Notice that the focus is on the firms themselves, not on the workers within those firms, and the business that such firms gain or do not gain, relative to the economy. Choice (B) is a fitting link.

Perhaps the lack of pertinence in (D) is more evident now. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

VerbalBot · Answer

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