Sewing machines are important tools for both professional tailors and

Question

Sewing machines are important tools for both professional tailors and amateur fashion designers. Because the repair of sewing machines requires specialized skills possessed only by trained professionals, and because all mechanical devices including sewing machines eventually malfunction, the business of sewing machine repair will remain lucrative for the foreseeable future.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?

A. Proper routine maintenance for a sewing machine requires periodic cleaning and oiling by the owner.

B. Although the sewing machine is a staple of the tailor's toolkit, freehand needle technique is important as well.

C. Sewing machine manufacturers, hoping to attract more amateurs, now offer machines with convenient electronic controls.

D. The equipment needed to repair sewing machines is neither particularly expensive nor unusual, so many sewing machine repair businesses also service other small machinery.

E. The majority of sewing machines in existence are so cheaply constructed that the cost of purchasing a new machine is less than the cost of having one repaired by a trained profession.

theirrationalmind · Answer

I think this is one of the classic GMAT questions that tests the concept of "Demand and Supply".

The core premise of this argument is that repairing sewing machines require  specialized skills only possessed by trained professionals.  -->  We can infer from this that skills or labor for sewing machine repair is in limited supply 
 
From the other 2 statements in the question, "" Machines are important tools for professional tailors and amateur fashion designers; Since all mechanical devices (including sewing machines) malfunction eventually"" -->    We can infer from these statements that Demand for the sewing machine repair business will continue to remain high or even increase in the future

And the outcome of this inequality is what the conclusion says i.e., Demand > Supply, therefore being in the sewing machine repair business would be lucrative.

What would weaken this argument i.e., what would cause Demand <= Supply? or Demand to not exist altogether

A. Proper routine maintenance for a sewing machine requires periodic cleaning and oiling by the owner. -->   We can infer from this that if a sewing machine is well-maintained then there would be no need for repair. But we have no information regarding maintenance, and hence we can cross this off 
 
B. Although the sewing machine is a staple of the tailor's toolkit, freehand needle technique is important as well. -->   Irrelevant; Talks about another technique that tailors use  
 
C. Sewing machine manufacturers, hoping to attract more amateurs, now offer machines with convenient electronic controls. -->   Irrelevant; This is a feature of the machine itself and talks nothing about the "machine repair" business

D. The equipment needed to repair sewing machines is neither particularly expensive nor unusual, so many sewing machine repair businesses also service other small machinery. -->    This is a tricky one - while this statement does not make the sewing machine repair business lucrative, it is only talking about "equipment" and not the "specialized skills" as stated in the question stem. Hence, this is an incorrect answer choice

E. The majority of sewing machines in existence are so cheaply constructed that the cost of purchasing a new machine is less than the cost of having one repaired by a trained profession -->   If I am a tailor and if my machine goes bust, and If I know that replacing my machine is cheaper than getting it repaired, then I would buy a new machine instead of repairing my old one; And this reduces the Demand for machine repair business and thereby most weakens the argument

gloomybison · Answer

In order to solve this question do ı have to be acquainted with demand supply thing? Because the question is not really hard meaning wise but you just have to see the trick in option E...How do ı see it these tricky thinking related to real life problems (business etc.) in CR question? Does anyone have an advice?

karnavora1 · Answer

Sewing machines are important tools for both professional tailors and amateur fashion designers. Because the repair of sewing machines requires specialized skills possessed only by trained professionals, and because all mechanical devices including sewing machines eventually malfunction, the business of sewing machine repair will remain lucrative for the foreseeable future.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?

A. Proper routine maintenance for a sewing machine requires periodic cleaning and oiling by the owner.
   Incorrect - Irrelevant to the argument

B. Although the sewing machine is a staple of the tailor's toolkit, freehand needle technique is important as well.
   Incorrect - Irrelevant to the argument

C. Sewing machine manufacturers, hoping to attract more amateurs, now offer machines with convenient electronic controls.
   Incorrect - We don't know what impact this will have on sewing machine repair business

D. The equipment needed to repair sewing machines is neither particularly expensive nor unusual, so many sewing machine repair businesses also service other small machinery.
   Incorrect - Doesn't talk about what will happen to the repair business

E. The majority of sewing machines in existence are so cheaply constructed that the cost of purchasing a new machine is less than the cost of having one repaired by a trained profession.
   Correct - This makes sense, if new machines are cheaper than getting an existing machine repaired, no one will repair the existing machine

mSKR · Answer

Sewing machines are important tools for both professional tailors and amateur fashion designers. Because the repair of sewing machines requires specialized skills possessed only by trained professionals, and because all mechanical devices including sewing machines eventually malfunction, the business of sewing machine repair will remain lucrative for the foreseeable future.

Which of the following, if true, woul d most seriously weaken the argume nt above?

A. Proper routine maintenance for a sewing machine requires periodic cleaning and oiling by the owner.
>>good for repair business

B. Although the sewing machine is a staple of the tailor's toolkit, freehand needle technique is important as well.
>>irrelevant

C. Sewing machine manufacturers, hoping to attract more amateurs, now offer machines with convenient electronic controls.
>> but what about repair?

D. The equipment needed to repair sewing machines is neither particularly expensive nor unusual, so many sewing machine repair businesses also service other small machinery.
>> repair maybe good business

E. The majority of sewing machines in existence are so cheaply constructed that the cost of purchasing a new machine is less than the cost of having one repaired by a trained profession. 
>>definitely repair is not a good business for future

hence E

Linsanity110 · Answer

E - believe this is the correct answer

SohGMAT2020 · Answer

Sewing machines are important tools for both professional tailors and amateur fashion designers. Because the repair of sewing machines requires specialized skills possessed only by trained professionals, and because all mechanical devices including sewing machines eventually malfunction,  the business of sewing machine repair will remain lucrative for the foreseeable future.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument above?

So, we have to weaken the conclusion that  the business of sewing machine repair will remain lucrative for the foreseeable future.

A. Proper routine maintenance for a sewing machine requires periodic cleaning and oiling by the owner.  : This option just gives the steps to maintain a sewing machine properly, it does not give any further information about whether the business of sewing repair will be profitable: Incorrect

B. Although the sewing machine is a staple of the tailor's toolkit, freehand needle technique is important as well.  : There can be other techniques as well but that does not affect the conclusion at all. Incorrect

C. Sewing machine manufacturers, hoping to attract more amateurs, now offer machines with convenient electronic controls. : We don't know what will be the effect of adding electronic controls. i.e. whether the frequency of repair work will increase or not. Hence this option also does not affect the argument: Incorrect

D. The equipment needed to repair sewing machines is neither particularly expensive nor unusual, so many sewing machine repair businesses also service other small machinery.  : This option goes slightly in favor of the conclusion because if the equipment cost of repair is less then the cost of repair is also low. However we are not given about the other costs such as labor and whether a new machine would be cheaper than repairing the old one. Either way this option in no way weaken the conclusion. Hence incorrect

E. The majority of sewing machines in existence are so cheaply constructed that the cost of purchasing a new machine is less than the cost of having one repaired by a trained profession.   Correct: If getting new machine is cheaper than repairing then the conclusion is weakened.

IMO E is correct

VerbalBot · Answer

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Sewing machines are important tools for both professional tailors and

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