Consumer advocate: A recent study concluded that top-loading washing

Question

Consumer advocate: A recent study concluded that top-loading washing machines are superior overall to front-loaders. But front-loaders have the controls and access in front. This is more convenient for wheelchair users, some of whom find it highly inconvenient to remove laundry from top-loaders. So for some consumers front-loaders are superior.

Which one of the following is an assumption upon which the consumer advocate’s argument depends?

(A) For some consumers the convenience of frontloaders outweighs the advantages of toploaders in assessing which is superior.
(B) Washing machines of a given type should be compared only with washing machines of that type.
(C) Convenience is the only important factor in determining which type of washing machine is superior.
(D) Retrieving clothes from a top-loader is convenient for people who do not use wheelchairs.
(E) Retrieving clothes from front-loaders is inconvenient for people who are not wheelchair users.

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

EXPLANATION FROM POWER SCORE

In this stimulus, the consumer advocate disagrees with the claim that top-loading washers are superior overall. The argumentation is as follows:

Premise: For some consumers, top-loaders are inconvenient.

Sub-conclusion: Therefore, for some consumers front-loaders are superior.

Conclusion: Therefore, for some front-loaders are superior overall.

In order to logically draw this conclusion, the consumer advocate must assume that for some of those consumers who find front-loaders more convenient, they also find those front-loaders superior overall—so the correct answer choice must link greater convenience to overall superiority.

Answer choice (A):  This is the correct answer choice. Answer choice (A) provides the needed supporter assumption: if some consumers consider the convenience of front-loaders to outweigh the other advantages, then the advocate can logically draw the conclusion that for some consumers, front-loading washers are superior to top-loaders overall.

Answer choice (B) is incorrect; the advocate obviously compares two different kinds of washing machines, so this answer choice cannot be an assumption required by the argument. Answer choice (C) is wrong because the advocate does not make or require this claim—there could be many important factors in this determination. Incorrect answer choices (D) and (E) reflect a similar idea—presenting issues of convenience—but the assumption required by the consumer advocate’s argument must link greater convenience to greater overall superiority.

Bunuel · Answer

EXPLANATION FROM Fox LSAT

Wait, what? Yet again: the arguments on the LSAT usually don’t make any sense. This one is no exception. My default mode is always going to be, “The argument doesn’t make sense because _______________.” Here, the argument concludes that front-loading washing machines are superior for “some consumers” on the basis that wheelchair users find their access and controls more convenient. This argument doesn’t make sense because it ignores the possibility that top-loading machines might be superior in every  other  way: they might be cheaper, they might clean clothes much better, they might use far less water, they might use far less electricity, they might make far less noise, they might break down far less often, etcetera. So even though wheelchair users find front-loaders more convenient, they might  still  prefer a top-loader for all their other advantages.

The question asks us to find “an assumption upon which the consumer advocate’s argument depends.” This is asking for a Necessary Assumption. On Necessary Assumption questions, we’re looking for the answer that must be true in order for the argument to hold water. We’re looking for the answer that, if untrue, would cause the argument to fail. I think the answer would be something like, “At least one wheelchair user finds that the convenience of front-loading washing machines outweighs whatever other advantages top-loaders might have.” Because if that’s not true, if  zero  wheelchair users find that the convenience of front-loading washing machines outweighs whatever other advantages top-loaders might have, then the argument would fail. Let’s see what we can find.

A) If you substitute “wheelchair users” for “some consumers” in this answer choice, then it almost exactly matches our prediction. I love this answer.

B) Nope. The argument doesn’t take a position on this issue, neither explicitly nor implicitly. Plus I already loved A, which makes me even more skeptical than usual when I’m scanning the rest of the answer choices.

C) No, this doesn’t have to be true for the argument to make sense. Even if there are other factors besides convenience, it’s possible that some wheelchair users think the convenience factor outweighs those other factors. I still like A best.

D) No way. It’s possible that retrieving clothes from top-loaders sucks for everyone. Especially, you know, very short people or people with no arms or whatever. The argument does not rely on this answer choice in order to make sense. The argument  does  rely on A though, that’s why A is still the best answer by far.

E) Nah. It’s possible that retrieving clothes from front-loaders is easy for everyone, not just those in wheelchairs.

Answer A was the only answer that provides necessary support for the argument. So A is our answer.

shrewd1 · Answer

After reading through the options once, it seems B,D,E can be ruled out as they are not a necessary assumption.

For me it was a bit tough to choose between A and C, and A definitely seems more apt. C is a contender because it felt like for some users, main factor to determine superiority is convenience. But this is wrongly understood, as it seems to say that the main factor is convenience. But it doesn't have to be so, argument just implies that for some users, although there are other important advantages, convenience outweighs them all.

sayantanc2k · Answer

A is not an assumption, but just a restatement of what has already been stated in the passage. At most it could be an inference. An assumption should link the premise and conclusion. Option A does not do so.

C is better than A.The premise is about convenience, and the conclusion is about superiority. Option C links convenience with superiority. The word "only" is required because if there were other features that determine superiority then the conclusion that more convenient machines are superior cannot be drawn .

OA has been changed.

Ankita5330 · Answer

A recent study concluded that
top-loading washing machines are superior
 overall  to front-loaders.

If it is saying about overall superiority.There must be multiple factors. Hence C is not correct.
i.e
(C) Convenience is the  only  important factor in
determining which type of washing machine
is superior.

sayantanc2k · Answer

From your post it seems that you are confused between inference and assumption. I have already clarified the issue. Yet I shall try once again to explain (taking your point into consideration).

You have INFERRED that there must be multiple factors  since  the conclusion is about overall superiority. Thus your point FOLLOWS from the conclusion. The following arrow diagram explains the difference between an assumption and an inference:

1. Premise ------- (Assumption) --------> conclusion
2. Premise / conclusion / other information in the passage ---------> inference

Your point falls under the second category above and hence is an inference.

Now once again consider the reasoning in the given passage:

Premise: X is more convenient than Y.
Conclusion: X is superior (/overall superior) to Y.

Link: Convenience is the only factor to determine the superiority (/overall superiority).

Whether you consider overall superiority or superiority, the premise is the same that X is more convenient. Thus C is the correct option.

arunavamunshi1988 · Answer

Hi Sayantan, Don't you think 'C' is too strong? The argument actually assumes that ' Convenience is a criteria of superiority for a particular group of people(Wheel chair users in this case) '. But the argument does not even hint that convenience is the only criteria of superiority. With that we did not know 'why top-loading washing machines are superior overall to front-loaders?'. Whether that is for convenience to all other group of users. Actually I do not think that this might be a GMAT question. What do you think? GMAT may ask this type of question?

sayantanc2k · Answer

It does not matter whether the scope of the premise is for one particular group of users or all the users. In either case the explanation given above holds. (If the premise is applicable for a particular group, the conclusion is also applicable for that particular group). Let me try once again to elaborate my explanations above:

The concept of "too strong" is applicable only for inference type questions, not for assumptions. In assumptions "too strong" statements are required to eliminate any possibility of alternative cases.

Take this general example:
Premise: X and Y happen together (scope: one particular group of users)
Conclusion: X causes Y (scope: only that particular group of user)

Strengthening statement: Some other event Z does not cause Y
Assumption: NO other event causes Y ( or in other words ONLY X causes Y).
(Both the above types are limited to the particular scope considered in premise and conclusion.)

In the subject question:
X= convenience
Y = superiority
The scope is limited to particular group of users.

If the question were a strengthening type question then a statement similar to the following could be answer:
Price is not an important factor in determining superiority. (Price = Z)

Since the the subject question is an assumption type question, the following statement is a correct answer:
Price or any other factor except convenience is not important in determining superiority. (for a particular group of users)
or in other words,
Convenience is the only factor in determining superiority. (for a particular group of users)

Nightmare007 · Answer

A IMO ; 
 Here isn't it taking a particular group "for some consumers"to say something about universal in C ?.

sayantanc2k · Answer

A is an inference, not an assumption. Rather A is just a restatement of what has already been given in the passage.

However for option C, you are right. Ideally in option C it should have clarified that the statement is only about the particular group in question. In a real GMAT test, this kind of omission is probably not expected.

VKat · Answer

Hello Expert, in this question, what will be the conclusion for above passage, i expected : top loading washing machines are superior overall to front loaders.

And for this conclusion, i selected 'D' option as assumption.

Please suggest where i am wrong ?

GMATNinjaTwo · Answer

VKat , as explained by goforgmat, choice D does not need to be true...

According to a recent study, "top-loading washing machines are superior  overall  to front-loaders." This suggests that many users find top-loaders superior in many ways (ie perhaps most users find that top-loaders clean their clothes faster and more thoroughly than front-loaders do). This does not require that most users find top-loaders to be superior in EVERY way. In fact, most users may find that "retrieving clothes from a top-loader" is actually INCONVENIENT; however, those users can still view top-loaders as superior to front-loaders  overall  based on other factors. Thus, D is not necessary.

Choice C is also not necessary. Several IMPORTANT FACTORS may have been considered when surveyed users compared front-loaders to top-loaders. For example, imagine that the surveyed users considered 10 different factors (ie energy efficiency, cleanliness of clothes, noise level, etc.) when comparing the two types. It is possible that most users considered top-loaders to be superior in most of those categories and thus superior overall. Wheelchair users may have considered top-loaders to be superior in several ways as well. The author is assuming that, because wheelchair users find front-loaders to be more convenient, then those wheelchair users must find front-loaders to be superior; however, it is certainly possible that wheelchair users consider top-loaders to be superior  overall  (based on OTHER advantages), even though they find front-loaders to be more convenient. Given that wheelchair users find front-loaders to be more convenient, we can only safely conclude that "for some consumers front-loaders are superior" if we assume that the "the convenience of front-loaders outweighs the advantages of top-loaders in assessing which is superior." Thus, the answer is A, as given in the original source.

XavierAlexander · Answer

This is a question from Manhattan LSAT. And the official answer is "A". Please correct the OA. 
Below explanation has been mentioned in one of the forums of Manhattan website.

Answer choice is (C) is actually the sufficient assumption, as the truth of answer choice (C) would guarantee the conclusion. But it's not necessary that convenience is "the only" important factor. It's simply too strong...

Answer choice (A) is necessary to the argument. We know that there are some advantages to top-loaders and, for wheelchair users, there are some advantages to front-loaders.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear hellosanthosh2k2 , I'm happy to respond.

I agree that the " only " makes (C) stand out as strong, and that's precisely the point. That's part of why it works as an answer. You see, the argument itself is a relatively weak argument. This prompt argument easily could have been the prompt for a "weaken the argument" question . Notice that the negation of (C) would be a devastating objection to this argument, and the Negation Test is one of the strongest for an assumption. The fact that (C) is a laughably extreme statement and yet the assumption of the argument casts tremendous doubt on the validity of the argument. If Person #1 made the prompt argument, and then Person #2 said, " So, it seems you are assuming that . . ." and then said (C), this would be a brilliantly understated yet devastating objection to the argument. The extremity of (C) perfectly brings out the flimsy weakness of the prompt argument. Does all this make sense? Mike

VeritasPrepBrian · Answer

As a few people pointed out, the LSAT forums all have the correct answer to this one as A, which makes a lot of sense because:

-Rarely (I won't say "never" when discussing Critical Reasoning!) do you ever need a word like "all," or "only" in an assumption answer. The correct answer is a necessary assumption - without it the argument falls apart. Here what if convenience isn't the ONLY factor but instead just the MOST IMPORTANT factor. That's different from C, but the conclusion is just as strong at that point. And you don't even need "most important" - it could be one of several important factors, and for some people it will weigh heavier than the others and the conclusion still holds. The negation of C is "Convenience is NOT the only important factor in determining superiority" and that doesn't cripple the argument at all.

-Generally the correct answer to an assumption question isn't a great Strengthen answer. We like to say that Strengthen answers are "swords" that advance your argument, whereas Assumption arguments are "shields" that protect your argument from an attack that you might not have seen coming. As many have pointed out, A doesn't seem to add much new value to the argument, but that's pretty common with Assumption answers: very often the assumption is an easy assumption to make so it almost feels like it was already there. But if you take it away, then you really see how much weight it was carrying. If you negate A, you get "For no consumers does convenience of front-loaders outweigh the overall superiority of top-loaders" and then you can see that the conclusion is just destroyed.

-Note that A isn't explicit in the argument. We know that a study says top-loaders are superior, but for some users front-loaders are more convenient. Those are the only premises...then we're told the conclusion that for some users front-loaders are superior. The only facts we have about front-loaders are 1) they're inferior and 2) they're more convenient for some people. To leap to "they're superior for some people" we absolutely need to connect convenience to superiority...that's not accomplished in the argument itself, although it's kind of obvious that those are the dots that need to be connected and so for most of us our brains already do that. If your take was that A was already stated in the argument...you just made the same assumption yourself. THAT's why Assumption Negation is so powerful...it turns these questions into weaken questions and then you get to attack the argument, which helps you better identify the gaps in it that your brain may have already started to fill in.

sayan640 · Answer

VeritasKarishma   chetan2u   generis   mikemcgarry

Can you please tell which option is the correct answer here ? Option A or option C ? There seems to be a diffrence in opinion among people over this question. Can you please help ?

Posted from my mobile device

chetan2u · Answer

Consumer advocate: A recent study concluded that top-loading washing machines are superior overall to front-loaders. But front-loaders have the controls and access in front. This is more convenient for wheelchair users, some of whom find it highly inconvenient to remove laundry from top-loaders. So for some consumers front-loaders are superior.

Let us first look at the argument to answer
 Argument  : Top loaders are superior as per a study -->> People using wheel chairs find front loaders more convenient ---->> So, for some consumers front-loaders are superior.

I think it is very clear from the flow of the argument that the ASSUMPTION should connect  convenience  of these  few consumers  to  superiority .

So, A should be the answer and C does not come close to this choice.

Let us check on A and C

Which one of the following is an assumption upon which the consumer advocate’s argument depends?

(A) For some consumers the convenience of frontloaders outweighs the advantages of toploaders in assessing which is superior.
 Firstly it is NOT a premise but a very valid assumption. It connects few consumers convenience to the superiority of that machine. 
Thus, we are not generalizing the taste of people, and just concentrating on this particular group. As a matter of fact, this choice contains the information of choice C, but without generalizing everyone.

(C) Convenience is the only important factor in determining which type of washing machine is superior.
 Yes, if this were an assumption, the argument will surely stand, 
but if this choice were that convenience for  some consumers  is the only important factor, that too will be sufficient.
Also, if this choice were that convenience for  some consumers  is one of the most important factor, that too will be sufficient.
 
So, it is too extreme, and the argument will stand even if we say xyz is the most important factor. It leaves room for other factors and yet be sufficient.

So, I would go with A.

KarishmaB · Answer

Top loading are superior to front loading.
But for some, front loading are more convenient and top loading highly inconvenient.
So front loading are superior for them.

The moment I read the argument, my first question was that what if the other features of top loading outweigh convenience? Just because of convenience, we cannot establish superiority. 
The argument assumes that for these specific consumers, convenience outweighs the advantages of top loaders. What if the top loaders save a lot of money and the wheelchair users find that more appealing than inconvenience? Then our conclusion cannot hold.

(A) For some consumers the convenience of frontloaders outweighs the advantages of toploaders in assessing which is superior.
Correct. This has been assumed by the argument.

(B) Washing machines of a given type should be compared only with washing machines of that type.
Irrelevant.

(C) Convenience is the only important factor in determining which type of washing machine is superior.
Not necessary. There can be other important factors too. The conclusion will still hold as long as convenience outweighs others i.e. as long as convenience is the most important. Convenience need not be the ONLY important factor.

(D) Retrieving clothes from a top-loader is convenient for people who do not use wheelchairs.
Irrelevant

(E) Retrieving clothes from front-loaders is inconvenient for people who are not wheelchair users.
Irrelevant

Answer (A)

Basshead · Answer

Between A and C:

C says that convenience is the   only   important factor in determining which type of washing machine is superior. What if wheelchair users thought reliability was also an important factor in determining which type of washing machine is superior? C is not a necessary assumption for the argument.

A, on the other hand, tells us that for some consumers the convenience of frontloaders outweighs the advantages of toploaders in assessing which is superior. If  no  consumers thought the convenience of frontloaders outweighs the advantages of toploaders, then the argument that some front-loaders are superior for some people is destroyed. This is a   necessary   assumption.

A is the answer.

Consumer advocate: A recent study concluded that top-loading washing

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Consumer advocate: A recent study concluded that top-loading washing

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