Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in respon

Question

Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in response to both our successes and our opponents’ failures. But this behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed. On the contrary, if one looks at the professionals in this sport, one will find that they are even more effusive. Our critics should leave the team alone and let the players enjoy the game.

The coach’s argument is most vulnerable to the charge that it

(A) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play

(B) misinterprets the critics’ claim that the team is unprofessional

(C) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level

(D) shifts the blame for the team’s behavior to professional players

(E) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few

GMAToverPUBG · Answer

Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in response to both our successes and our opponents’ failures. But this behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed. On the contrary, if one looks at the professionals in this sport, one will find that they are even more effusive. Our critics should leave the team alone and let the players enjoy the game.

The coach’s argument is most vulnerable to the charge that it

(A) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play - There is no mention of "unethical" per se. (Out of Scope) -  Eliminate A.

(B) misinterprets the critics’ claim that the team is unprofessional - The team is  criticized  of enthusiasm. Coach misinterprets it to be unprofessional - -   So we keep B

(C) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level - Coach does that, but as per question, is Coach's argument vulnerable to it? Or does it weakens his argument? It strengthens it rather.   Eliminate C

(D) shifts the blame for the team’s behavior to professional players - Similar to C, this also strengthens Coach's argument and is less vulnerable.   Eliminate D

(E) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few. - There is no mention of "actions of a few", thus, Irrelevant. -  E liminate E

Hence, B.

Abhi942 · Answer

Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in response to both our successes and our opponents’ failures. But this behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed. On the contrary, if one looks at the professionals in this sport, one will find that they are even more effusive. Our critics should leave the team alone and let the players enjoy the game.

The coach’s argument is most vulnerable to the charge that it

(A) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play

(B) misinterprets the critics’ claim that the team is unprofessional

(C) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level

(D) shifts the blame for the team’s behavior to professional players

(E) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few

The Question stem clearly states that Critics often criticized the enthusiasm of the Coach's team in response to both its successes and its opponents’ failures. Coach in his response readily assumes that critics are criticizing his team as unprofessional and makes his statement. No where in the question stem it is mentioned in that this particular act is unprofessional.

(A) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play ---  This is a trap answer which will make us assume that act of team i.e, response to both its successes and its opponents’ failures as an unethical play. We should never bring our own beliefs while answering CR questions

(B) misinterprets the critics’ claim that the team is unprofessional ---  Correct answer for above mentioned explanation

(C) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level --  There is no discussion of any levels of sport

(D) shifts the blame for the team’s behavior to professional players --  Same as B no there is no mention of what is professional or unprofessional

(E) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few --  No where in stem coach or critics mentioned about the act is performed by only few players.

abhi19051990 · Answer

Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in response to both our successes and our opponents’ failures. But this behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed. On the contrary, if one looks at the professionals in this sport, one will find that they are even more effusive. Our critics should leave the team alone and let the players enjoy the game.

The coach’s argument is most vulnerable to the charge that it

ARGUMENT: Behavior of the players is not unprofessional. Comparison done with professionals to justify. Basis this let's look at the answer choices.

(A) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play- nothing mentioned for unethical play. ELIMINATED

(B) misinterprets the critics’ claim that the team is unprofessional- as the second sentence suggests and further justification given can be taken as misinterpretation of the critics' claim. HOLD

(C) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level- the coach compares but has not generalised it. Be careful. ELIMINATED

(D) shifts the blame for the team’s behavior to professional players- no blame has been passed on. ELIMINATED

(E) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few- nothing of this sort anywhere in the argument. ELIMINATED.

Hence B is the correct answer here.

peanuts · Answer

Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in response to both our successes and our opponents’ failures. But this behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed. On the contrary, if one looks at the professionals in this sport, one will find that they are even more effusive. Our critics should leave the team alone and let the players enjoy the game.

Premise 1: Critics claimed the team's behavior is unprofessional
Premise 2: professional players do so even more effusive 
 Conclusion: The claim is wrong

The coach’s argument is most vulnerable to the charge that it

The main assumption the coach made with Premise 2 is that as professionals all do the same with his team, so his team could not be professional ==> the coach assumes that critic wanted to say  his team  is unprofessional while in fact the critics said the  team's behavior  is unprofessional

(A) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play  No one talks about ethical play

(B) misinterprets the critics’ claim that the team is unprofessional  yes. Exactly what we want

(C) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level  We don't know if the team is at professional level or not, so this charge is difficult to make sense

(D) shifts the blame for the team’s behavior to professional players  This is what I thought at first. But in the stem, no claim was made about the professionals. It just say that the professionals do one thing, which is similar to what the team did, so the team should not be unprofessional

(E) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few  No info about unprofessional behavior is expressed by a few or the whole team

NuG · Answer

But the question stem mentions "behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed." 
We assume that the coach is making a logical leap?

guddo · Answer

Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in response to both our successes and our opponents’ failures. But this behavior is hardly unprofessional, as our critics have claimed. On the contrary, if one looks at the professionals in this sport, one will find that they are even more effusive. Our critics should leave the team alone and let the players enjoy the game.

The coach’s argument is most vulnerable to the charge that it

The critics call the team’s behavior “unprofessional,” meaning inappropriate or not in keeping with proper conduct. The coach responds by saying that professional players behave even more enthusiastically. But that misses the point.  Something can be done by professionals and still be   unprofessional in the sense of improper behavior .

(A) misleadingly equates enthusiasm with unethical play

This is incorrect. The coach does not say enthusiasm is unethical.

(B) misinterprets the critics’ claim that the team is unprofessional

This is correct. The coach treats “unprofessional” as if it means “unlike what professionals do,” but the critics likely mean “improper or unsportsmanlike.”

(C) too quickly generalizes from the sport at one level to the sport at a different level

This is tempting, but not the main flaw. The issue is not merely amateur versus professional level; it is the meaning of “unprofessional.”

(D) shifts the blame for the team’s behavior to professional players

This is incorrect. The coach is not blaming professional players.

(E) takes everyone on the team to have performed the actions of a few

This is unsupported. The argument does not distinguish between a few players and the whole team.

Answer: (B)

egmat · Answer

Hi NuG,

You're reading the stem exactly right: the critics  did  call the behavior "unprofessional." So you're correct that the coach isn't inventing that claim out of thin air. That part of your read is solid.

Here's where the slip happens.  "Misinterprets" in choice (B) doesn't mean the coach made up the criticism. It means the coach  shifts what the word "unprofessional" stands for.

Think about the two possible meanings of "unprofessional":

-  What the critics meant:  the conduct is  improper / inappropriate  - bad manners, poor sportsmanship.
-  What the coach treats it as:  not behaving the way professional players behave.

The critics were judging the team's  behavior  as improper. But the coach responds with "if one looks at the  professionals  in this sport... they are even more effusive." That only works if "unprofessional" means "unlike what pros do." It doesn't - pros being just as loud says nothing about whether the conduct is  proper .

So the logical leap you sensed is real, but it's not a leap about  whether  the critics spoke. It's the coach quietly swapping one sense of "unprofessional" for another and then knocking down the swapped-in version.

Turn one knob to feel it:  suppose a critic says a comedian's act is "unprofessional" (meaning crude). If the comedian replies,  "But famous professional comedians are even cruder!"  - has he answered the charge that the act is crude? No. He's answered a different charge: "you're not acting like a pro." Same move the coach makes here.

That equivocation on "professional/unprofessional" is exactly why  B  is the vulnerability.

Answer: B

suntprovident · Answer

Isn't unsportsmanlike behaviour also unprofessional ? Isnt that a subset ?

Can experts please weigh in and help

AllisonBell · Answer

Yes, unsportsmanlike behavior could definitely be considered unprofessional! But the key here is the way the concept of  professional v. unprofessional  shifts from the premise to conclusion.

The coach’s conclusion wants us to believe that despite the team’s “enthusiasm,” the behavior is not “unprofessional.” In this meaning, the coach seems to suggest that by “not unprofessional,” the coach means that the behavior isn’t unsportsmanlike.

But then, to support the claim, the coach refers to a different  kind  of professionalism — the kind that means players are getting paid to do the work. Essentially, the coach describes professional (i.e. paid) players behaving the same way as the coach’s team.

The key is that because there are two meanings to the word professional, it’s possible for  professional  (paid) players to behave  unprofessionally  (in an unsportsmanlike way). But based on the information given, we don’t know whether the paid professionals’ behavior is/should be considered unsportsmanlike. And remember, the coach’s goal was to convince us that their team is professional in the sense of being sportsmanlike.

Imagine we rewrote this argument to say: People say my team is  unsportsmanlike  due to enthusiastic behavior. But  paid players  behave similarly, so my team is not  unsportsmanlike.  There’s a huge gap in the logic! Being a paid player doesn’t exempt one from unsportsmanlike conduct.

All this argument does is replace the concepts in italics with the concept  professional(ism).  People say my team is  unprofessional  due to enthusiastic behavior. But  professional players  behave similarly, so my team is not  unprofessional.

The faulty logic is the same — it’s just disguised by a word that happens to overlap.

Hope that’s helpful! For more CR questions and teacher-written explanations, check out ManhattanPrep’s   Free GMAT QBank and Starter Kit  .

Best,

guddo · Answer

Yes, unsportsmanlike behavior can be a type of unprofessional behavior. That is exactly why B works.

The critics are using “unprofessional” to mean  improper or unsportsmanlike . But the coach responds as if “unprofessional” means “not like professional athletes.”

So the coach is not answering the critics’ real point. Even if professionals are more effusive, that does not prove the team’s behavior is  proper .

Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in respon

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Coach: Our team has often been criticized for our enthusiasm in respon

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards