The growing of coffee beans in South America is done in a time-honored

Question

The growing of coffee beans in South America is done in a time-honored but also time-consuming fashion. A new method of growing coffee beans, tried while introducing the growing of coffee beans to new regions in Africa, is much less time-consuming. A group of entrepreneurs has decided to employ farmers in South America, seasoned in the art of coffee bean growing, while applying the new method. The entrepreneurs believe that using the new method will significantly shorten the growing time and, therefore, reduce the growing costs within the first year.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion drawn by the group of entrepreneurs?

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion drawn by the group of entrepreneurs?

A. It will always cost more money to grow coffee beans in South America than in Africa due to the difference in employee wages.

B. When introduced to regions in Africa where coffee had never been grown, a farming crew was assembled within a fortnight and the new method was inculcated surprisingly quickly.

C. The more the farmer is used to an agricultural method, the longer it takes that farmer to internalize and efficiently use another.

D. A third method, already used in certain parts of the Caribbean, has been shown to be more efficient and cost effective than the proposed African method.

E. In some regions in Africa, organizing consistent sources of irrigation is problematic.

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vikasshetty · Answer

The answer is C since it directly targets the part of the conclusion about saving time.

A) Talks about cost savings.
B) Out of Scope
D) Does not talk about the current method. Out of Scope
E) Out of Scope

Abhishek009 · Answer

Author here is clearly comparing growing of coffee beans in South America and new regions in Africa.

Then he states that since it was successful concludes that the same will happen in South America as well.(Highlighted part is conclusion)

(A) Compares Cost.
(B) Talks only about Africa coffee farmers and no way compares it to South America situation.
(D) Third method is out of scope.
(E) Sources of irrigation is problematic - Out of scope.

(C) States that what may be true in African context may not hold true as it may take sufficient time for the African coffee growers to switch to the new cultivation methods and thus the highlighted part is clearly and efficiently challenged and attacked, Answer must hence be (C)

pudu · Answer

C. The more the farmer is used to an agricultural method, the longer it takes that farmer to internalize and efficiently use another.

entrepreneurs believing that seasoned coffee farmers can quickly learn the new methods and that will help in to reduce production time. C weaken this conclusion. Hence C

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The growing of coffee beans in South America is done in a time-honored but also time-consuming fashion. A new method of growing coffee beans, tried while introducing the growing of coffee beans to new regions in Africa, is much less time-consuming. A group of entrepreneurs has decided to employ farmers in South America, seasoned in the art of coffee bean growing, while applying the new method. The entrepreneurs believe that using the new method will significantly shorten the growing time and, therefore, reduce the growing costs within the first year.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion drawn by the group of entrepreneurs?

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion drawn by the group of entrepreneurs?

A. It will always cost more money to grow coffee beans in South America than in Africa due to the difference in employee wages.

Incorrect.

To solve this Conclusion Weakening question, first break down the argument. The first 3 sentences are premises providing factual data. The last sentence uses the conclusion conjunction therefore, and is the entrepreneurs' conclusion:

Premise A: South American coffee bean growing has been around a long time although the method used is not the most efficient.
 +
Premise B: in Africa, in places where coffee had never been grown, a new growing method was tried which proved to be very efficient
 +
Premise C: entrepreneurs wish to use the new method in South America with the experienced farmers
 =
Conclusion: when the South American farmers use the new method, production time and cost will be reduced

Possible assumption: the experienced farmers will have no problem using the new method

Weakening Data: ?

You are required to find data that weakens the conclusion that using the new method with South American farmers will be more efficient. The correct answer could be one that exposes the argument's assumption.

This answer choice provides irrelevant data that does not weaken the conclusion. The entrepreneurs' conclusion has nothing to do with the comparison of costs between Africa and South America; they just plan to cut the costs in South America.

B. When introduced to regions in Africa where coffee had never been grown, a farming crew was assembled within a fortnight and the new method was inculcated surprisingly quickly.

Incorrect.

This answer choice neither weakens nor strengthens the conclusion. Actually, it just repeats the second premise by telling us that untrained African workers learned the new method quickly. However, the entrepreneurs' conclusion (which we should be focused on) deals with growing coffee in South America.

C. The more the farmer is used to an agricultural method, the longer it takes that farmer to internalize and efficiently use another.

This answer choice weakens the entrepreneurs' conclusion by showing a difference between the African case and the South American case. Africans in the regions where the new method was introduced were not used to other methods and therefore didn't have to "unlearn" them whereas the South Americans in question are very much used to doing things the old way. Therefore, time may not be saved and the costs wouldn't be reduced, at least not for the first year.

The inherent flaw in this argument is that the system was proven to be quicker with untrained workers, but the South American growers are already trained in their own method.

The inherent flaw in this argument is that the system was proven to be quicker with untrained workers, but the South American growers are already trained in their own method.

D. A third method, already used in certain parts of the Caribbean, has been shown to be more efficient and cost effective than the proposed African method.

Incorrect.

To solve this Conclusion Weakening question, first break down the argument. The first 3 sentences are premises providing factual data. The last sentence uses the conclusion conjunction therefore, and is the entrepreneurs' conclusion:

Premise A: South American coffee bean growing has been around a long time although the method used is not the most efficient.
 +
Premise B: in Africa, in places where coffee had never been grown, a new growing method was tried which proved to be very efficient
 +
Premise C: entrepreneurs wish to use the new method in South America with the experienced farmers
 =
Conclusion: when the South American farmers use the new method, production time and cost will be reduced

Possible assumption: the experienced farmers will have no problem using the new method

Weakening Data: ?

You are required to find data that weakens the conclusion that using the new method with South American farmers will be more efficient. The correct answer could be one that exposes the argument's assumption.

This answer choice neither weakens nor strengthens the entrepreneurs' conclusion as their conclusion has nothing to do with which method is the most effective of all; they just plan to cut the costs in South America using the method tried in Africa. Therefore, this answer choice is irrelevant and does not weaken the conclusion.

E. In some regions in Africa, organizing consistent sources of irrigation is problematic.

Incorrect.

This answer choice provides irrelevant data and, therefore, cannot weaken the conclusion. The entrepreneurs' conclusion is about growing coffee in South America. Problems specific to Africa are unlikely to be faced in South America.

The growing of coffee beans in South America is done in a time-honored

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The growing of coffee beans in South America is done in a time-honored

Prep Toolkit

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

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My Rewards