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GMAT695
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09 Oct 2024, 06:21
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D
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Question Stats:
86% (01:20) correct
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wrong
based on 514
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Animal-rights supporters in the United States have, in the last two years, increased their activities protesting the use of animals for fur coats. During this period fur coat sales began to decrease steadily. Therefore, the activities of the animal-rights supporters must have been the cause of the decline in fur sales.
Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the argument above?
A. Fur coats are very warm, and in the past two years, several northern regions in the United States have experienced record cold winters, causing an increase in the need for warm outer wear.
B. In the past several years, fur industry analysts have noted that middle-income consumers are buying more fur coats than previously.
C. In the past few years, protests by animal rights supporters have caused many celebrities to speak out against the fur industry.
D. In the past two years, production problems have restricted the supply of furs, making each fur coat more expensive.
E. At the recent fur fashion shows, many of the furs were sheared and dyed bright colors so that they resembled velvet rather than fur.
GMAT-Club-Forum-9a470xd4.png [ 104.8 KiB | Viewed 1388 times ]
Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the argument above?
A. Fur coats are very warm, and in the past two years, several northern regions in the United States have experienced record cold winters, causing an increase in the need for warm outer wear.
B. In the past several years, fur industry analysts have noted that middle-income consumers are buying more fur coats than previously.
C. In the past few years, protests by animal rights supporters have caused many celebrities to speak out against the fur industry.
D. In the past two years, production problems have restricted the supply of furs, making each fur coat more expensive.
E. At the recent fur fashion shows, many of the furs were sheared and dyed bright colors so that they resembled velvet rather than fur.
Attachment:
GMAT-Club-Forum-9a470xd4.png [ 104.8 KiB | Viewed 1388 times ]
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09 Oct 2024, 08:35
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Answer is D. This choice provides an alternative explanation for why fur coat sales have fallen, which is fur has become expensive
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28 Jan 2025, 07:08
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Animal-rights supporters in the United States have, in the last two years, increased their activities protesting the use of animals for fur coats. During this period fur coat sales began to decrease steadily. Therefore, the activities of the animal-rights supporters must have been the cause of the decline in fur sales.
The conclusion of the argument is the following:
the activities of the animal-rights supporters must have been the cause of the decline in fur sales
The support for the conclusion is the following:
Animal-rights supporters in the United States have, in the last two years, increased their activities protesting the use of animals for fur coats. During this period fur coat sales began to decrease steadily.
So, the reasoning of the argument is basically the following: At the same time as animal rights supporters increased their activities, fur coat sales decreased. So, it must be the case that the activities caused the decrease.
Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the argument above?
This is a Weaken question, and the correct answer will show that, while it's true that fur coat sales decreased when animal rights supporters increased their activities, it may not be the case that the activities caused the decrease.
A. Fur coats are very warm, and in the past two years, several northern regions in the United States have experienced record cold winters, causing an increase in the need for warm outer wear.
This choice strengthens, rather than weakens, the argument.
After all, if "in the past two years," there has been "an increase in the need for warm outer wear," then that increase could have been expected to result in an increase in demand for fur coats.
However, there was not an increase in demand for fur coats. Rather, sales of fur coats decreased.
So, it appears that some other factor offset the increase in the need for warm outer wear, causing a net decrease in demand for fur coats, and that other factor may have been the activities of animal rights supporters.
So, this choice does the opposite of what the correct answer must do.
Eliminate.
B. In the past several years, fur industry analysts have noted that middle-income consumers are buying more fur coats than previously.
This choice has no effect on the argument.
After all, regardless of whether "middle-income consumers are buying more fur coats than previously," the passage states as fact that sales of fur coats have decreased overall.
So, regardless of what this choice says, the facts that support the conclusion remain true and still support it.
Eliminate.
C. In the past few years, protests by animal rights supporters have caused many celebrities to speak out against the fur industry.
If anything, this choice in a way strengthens, rather than weakens, the argument.
After all, if the activities of animal rights supporters have caused many celebrities to speak out against the fur industry, then, since many people pay attention to celebrities, it seems a little more likely that the activities of animal rights supporters did cause the decrease in sales of fur coats.
Eliminate.
D. In the past two years, production problems have restricted the supply of furs, making each fur coat more expensive.
This choice is interesting.
If production problems have restricted the supply of furs, making each fur coat more expensive, then it's possible that the decrease in fur coat sales could have been caused by increases in the prices of fur coats.
In that case, even though it's true that fur coat sales decreased when animal rights supporters increased their activities, that fact doesn't strongly support the conclusion because price increases that occurred at the same time could have been the cause.
So, this choice casts doubt on the conclusion and thus weakens the argument.
Keep.
E. At the recent fur fashion shows, many of the furs were sheared and dyed bright colors so that they resembled velvet rather than fur.
This choice has no clear effect on the argument.
While this choice is about furs, it's not clear how furs at fashion shows being sheared and dyed bright colors would have affected fur sales. It could have caused an increase or a decrease or had no significant effect at all.
So, this choice does not either cast doubt on or help to confirm the conclusion.
Eliminate.
Correct answer: D
The conclusion of the argument is the following:
the activities of the animal-rights supporters must have been the cause of the decline in fur sales
The support for the conclusion is the following:
Animal-rights supporters in the United States have, in the last two years, increased their activities protesting the use of animals for fur coats. During this period fur coat sales began to decrease steadily.
So, the reasoning of the argument is basically the following: At the same time as animal rights supporters increased their activities, fur coat sales decreased. So, it must be the case that the activities caused the decrease.
Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the argument above?
This is a Weaken question, and the correct answer will show that, while it's true that fur coat sales decreased when animal rights supporters increased their activities, it may not be the case that the activities caused the decrease.
A. Fur coats are very warm, and in the past two years, several northern regions in the United States have experienced record cold winters, causing an increase in the need for warm outer wear.
This choice strengthens, rather than weakens, the argument.
After all, if "in the past two years," there has been "an increase in the need for warm outer wear," then that increase could have been expected to result in an increase in demand for fur coats.
However, there was not an increase in demand for fur coats. Rather, sales of fur coats decreased.
So, it appears that some other factor offset the increase in the need for warm outer wear, causing a net decrease in demand for fur coats, and that other factor may have been the activities of animal rights supporters.
So, this choice does the opposite of what the correct answer must do.
Eliminate.
B. In the past several years, fur industry analysts have noted that middle-income consumers are buying more fur coats than previously.
This choice has no effect on the argument.
After all, regardless of whether "middle-income consumers are buying more fur coats than previously," the passage states as fact that sales of fur coats have decreased overall.
So, regardless of what this choice says, the facts that support the conclusion remain true and still support it.
Eliminate.
C. In the past few years, protests by animal rights supporters have caused many celebrities to speak out against the fur industry.
If anything, this choice in a way strengthens, rather than weakens, the argument.
After all, if the activities of animal rights supporters have caused many celebrities to speak out against the fur industry, then, since many people pay attention to celebrities, it seems a little more likely that the activities of animal rights supporters did cause the decrease in sales of fur coats.
Eliminate.
D. In the past two years, production problems have restricted the supply of furs, making each fur coat more expensive.
This choice is interesting.
If production problems have restricted the supply of furs, making each fur coat more expensive, then it's possible that the decrease in fur coat sales could have been caused by increases in the prices of fur coats.
In that case, even though it's true that fur coat sales decreased when animal rights supporters increased their activities, that fact doesn't strongly support the conclusion because price increases that occurred at the same time could have been the cause.
So, this choice casts doubt on the conclusion and thus weakens the argument.
Keep.
E. At the recent fur fashion shows, many of the furs were sheared and dyed bright colors so that they resembled velvet rather than fur.
This choice has no clear effect on the argument.
While this choice is about furs, it's not clear how furs at fashion shows being sheared and dyed bright colors would have affected fur sales. It could have caused an increase or a decrease or had no significant effect at all.
So, this choice does not either cast doubt on or help to confirm the conclusion.
Eliminate.
Correct answer: D
