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805+ (Hard)|   Weaken|         
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Conclusion - 14% comp are doing something different or wrong in handling or aging there cheese resulting in increased contamination rate.
like aging or handling diff -> increased contamination

Weaken argument - There can be different reason for contamination like the quantity cheese they are producing is much more than others resulting in more contamination data or may be issue is something different given they are handling cheese and aging it correctly

A - possible choice ( too general we are talking about last year data)
B - Strengthens NA
C - Possible choice
D - Strengthen NA (same as A)
E - Talks about the increase in quantity produced during last fiscal year for which the argument talks about

Ans - E
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In 85 percent of the bacterial contamination incidents recorded at artisan cheese aging facilities last year, one or another of a group consisting of only 14 percent of the world's artisan aging facilities was involved. Since the other 86 percent of facilities generally use the same types of cave ventilation and temperature-control systems as these high-contamination facilities, significant differences in aging and handling practices must have been responsible for the disparity.

Which of the following, if true about artisan cheese aging facilities last year, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) The 14 percent of facilities with the most contamination incidents collectively aged a greater total volume of cheese than any other comparable-sized group of facilities.

(B) Regional food safety inspectors issued far more hygiene citations to the high-contamination facilities than to the other facilities last year.

(C) Twelve percent of the facilities accounted for 93 percent of all cheese aged globally last year, and those facilities were involved in 76 percent of the contamination incidents.

(D) The average duration of the cheese-aging process across the 14 percent of facilities was nearly double the global median for artisan cheese production.

(E) The 14 percent of facilities experienced a 100 percent increase in their total production capacity over the previous fiscal year.

 


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Pre-thinking: the only differences between the 14% and 86% groups are aging and practice.

A: Introduce a new distinction between the two groups -> goes against the pre-thinking -> correct!
B: Last year's report about hygiene is irrelevant here -> incorrect.
C: Same as B, last year's incident is irrelevant here -> incorrect.
D: Those 14% age longer -> strengthen the argument -> incorrect.
E: Production increased next year is irrelevant to the contamination here -> incorrect.
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premise:
14% of cheese aging facilities account for 85% of contamination incidents although temperature and ventilation systems are similar.

conclusion: difference in aging and handling practices caused higher contamination caused the disparity

logical gap: author assumes handling practices as the only explanation.

analysing answer choices
A) This is a slight weakener. More cheese could mean more contamination, but cannot account for the huge disparity
B) Strengthens. Poor hygeine supports conclusion
C)best weakens. they handled much higher production volume. The disparity could be due to the volume differences
D)Do not weaken. Longer aging itself increase contamination, do not support conclusion
E) Capacity is not same as production.

Therefore C is the answer
Bunuel
In 85 percent of the bacterial contamination incidents recorded at artisan cheese aging facilities last year, one or another of a group consisting of only 14 percent of the world's artisan aging facilities was involved. Since the other 86 percent of facilities generally use the same types of cave ventilation and temperature-control systems as these high-contamination facilities, significant differences in aging and handling practices must have been responsible for the disparity.

Which of the following, if true about artisan cheese aging facilities last year, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) The 14 percent of facilities with the most contamination incidents collectively aged a greater total volume of cheese than any other comparable-sized group of facilities.

(B) Regional food safety inspectors issued far more hygiene citations to the high-contamination facilities than to the other facilities last year.

(C) Twelve percent of the facilities accounted for 93 percent of all cheese aged globally last year, and those facilities were involved in 76 percent of the contamination incidents.

(D) The average duration of the cheese-aging process across the 14 percent of facilities was nearly double the global median for artisan cheese production.

(E) The 14 percent of facilities experienced a 100 percent increase in their total production capacity over the previous fiscal year.

 


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Above information states that 85% of the contamination cases were found from only 14% of facilities. Since the other facilities also use same type of ventilation and temperature control systems, difference between these two facilities lies due difference in aging and handling practice.
A) It says 14% facilities did more work than comparable group size. But, it does not matter as the comparison between similar size group.
B) Irrelevant
C) Interesting. It says 12% facilities did 93% of work and those facilities were involved in 76% contamination cases. It implies that disparity in contamination cases is due to majority of work being done by these 12% facilities, and hence most cases of contamination are found from these facilities. Therefore, it is the amount of work rather than handling and ageing practices which increased the contamination cases.
D) Duration of ageing process does not effect the conclusion. Irrelevant
E) It does not state which 14% facilities experiences increase in production capacity, whether the same facilities with 85% contamination incidents or some other ones. Hence eliminated.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.
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(A) The 14 percent of facilities with the most contamination incidents collectively aged a greater total volume of cheese than any other comparable-sized group of facilities. still the reason for contamination holds

(B) Regional food safety inspectors issued far more hygiene citations to the high-contamination facilities than to the other facilities last year.correct..it was this factor that may hav made the difference

(C) Twelve percent of the facilities accounted for 93 percent of all cheese aged globally last year, and those facilities were involved in 76 percent of the contamination incidents.still the reason for contamination holds this yr

(D) The average duration of the cheese-aging process across the 14 percent of facilities was nearly double the global median for artisan cheese production.this strengthens

(E) The 14 percent of facilities experienced a 100 percent increase in their total production capacity over the previous fiscal year.Irrelevant

Ans B
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We have to weaken the argument.

Conclusion: aging difference and handling practice difference is the cause for the disparity in bacterial contamination incidents reported.
This conclusion is based on:
-> all facilities use same temp control and ventilation.

Assumption: the disparity is not due to difference in volume of cheese aged by the 14% facilities as compared to other 86%.

A) greater volume of cheese aged. we do not know how much greater. If it is not disproportionately greater than disparity cannot be attributed to volume of cheese aged and thus we would not weaken the author's reasoning.
B) citations issued after incident gets reported has no bearing on what caused the disparity.
C) facilities involved in nearly three quarter of contamination incidents was involved in 93% of all cheese aged last year. Since these facilities have aged the vast majority of cheese, it logically follows that they would have disproportionately higher contamination incidents reported. This weakens the idea that other reasons such as poor handling practices are responsible for the disparity.
D) aging duration has no bearing on bacterial contamination probability. we would have to incorrectly assume that longer aging process increases the chances of contamination, which is not stated in the passage. If anything, this strengthens the idea that difference in handling practice is the reason behind the disparity in contamination incidents since other factors such as temp control & ventilation are uniform across facilities.
E) Production capacity does not equate to the actual cheese aged. We do not know at what capacity do these facilities operate.

Correct answer C
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Option A is correct because if this facilities with most contamination processed more than the others, then they will have more contamination incidents because of poor aging and handling practices

Option B is incorrect because it is supporting the idea that this facility had poor handling

Option C is incorrect because it is referring to different group, so it is irrelevant

Option D is incorrect because it is not beginning the conclusion. In fact, it is supporting it.

Option E is incorrect because it is not talking about actual production amount, whether it is talking about doubling the capacity of production
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Conclusion: significant differences in aging and handling practices must have been responsible for disparity.

A. Says that 14% of facilities processes more cheese than any others..... Maybe
B. It is about hygiene. Doesnt weaken much......Wrong
C. 12% of facilities accounted for 93% of all cheese aged globally last year, those involved 76% of contamination incidents. Maybe the contamination is due to high production bolume in small percentage of factories and not inferior handling or aging........ Correct
D. It strengthens the arguement.
E. The facilities increased cheese production by 100% ......maybe

A tough one. Confused between C&E. I will go with C

C
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IMO - Answer is E
But I'm not 100% sure I feel I'm unable to comprehended fully because of these confusing % given.
COnc - Ageing and handling practice is the issue. So I have utlised Answer choice elimination

option E - give another reason to expand and other options I don't feel are breaking conc in any way thanks


Bunuel
In 85 percent of the bacterial contamination incidents recorded at artisan cheese aging facilities last year, one or another of a group consisting of only 14 percent of the world's artisan aging facilities was involved. Since the other 86 percent of facilities generally use the same types of cave ventilation and temperature-control systems as these high-contamination facilities, significant differences in aging and handling practices must have been responsible for the disparity.

Which of the following, if true about artisan cheese aging facilities last year, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) The 14 percent of facilities with the most contamination incidents collectively aged a greater total volume of cheese than any other comparable-sized group of facilities.

(B) Regional food safety inspectors issued far more hygiene citations to the high-contamination facilities than to the other facilities last year.

(C) Twelve percent of the facilities accounted for 93 percent of all cheese aged globally last year, and those facilities were involved in 76 percent of the contamination incidents.

(D) The average duration of the cheese-aging process across the 14 percent of facilities was nearly double the global median for artisan cheese production.

(E) The 14 percent of facilities experienced a 100 percent increase in their total production capacity over the previous fiscal year.

 


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A. Irrelevant as it doesent seriously weaken the argument. It just tells us that aged more cheese than any other group of 14% size, but doesent state it for the entire world supply. The remaining 86% can still produce more cheese in total
B. Irrelevant as it doesent weaken the argument but strengthens tit rather. If they did receive more hygiene citation, it confirms their practices were significantly worse and responsible for the contamination.
C. Relevant as it seriously weakens the argument by shifting the blame from handling practices to volume mainly. It tells us that a 12% of the facilities handles almost 93% of the world's cheese. If they are doing almost all the production, it makes sense that they have the majority of the contamination incidents. This seriously damages the conclusion that bad practices are to be blamed.
D. Irrelevant as it doesent seriously weaken the argument. The length of the aging process is a type of practice and just shows a difference in practices which also possibly aligns with the author's conclusion
E. Irrelevant as it doesent seriously weaken the argument since an increase in capacity doesent really tell us how much cheese they produced relative to the global total last year

C.
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Argument: 14% of artisan cheese aging facilities were responsible for 85% of total bacterial contaminations incidents recorded. The other 86% use similar cave ventilation and temperature control systems as the offenders.
Therefore, difference must be in aging and handling practices.

The argument assumes that since the facilities have similar equipments, then the higher contamination rate must be due to worse handling/aging practices.
To weaken the reasoning provided, we need to find an alternate explanation of so many incidents.

I think the correct answer is A. If the facilities handled much more cheese, then that could be the reason for comparatively more contamination incidents. So, the high number of incidents could be attributed to higher volume, and not necessarily the way it was handled or aged.
Bunuel
In 85 percent of the bacterial contamination incidents recorded at artisan cheese aging facilities last year, one or another of a group consisting of only 14 percent of the world's artisan aging facilities was involved. Since the other 86 percent of facilities generally use the same types of cave ventilation and temperature-control systems as these high-contamination facilities, significant differences in aging and handling practices must have been responsible for the disparity.

Which of the following, if true about artisan cheese aging facilities last year, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) The 14 percent of facilities with the most contamination incidents collectively aged a greater total volume of cheese than any other comparable-sized group of facilities.

(B) Regional food safety inspectors issued far more hygiene citations to the high-contamination facilities than to the other facilities last year.

(C) Twelve percent of the facilities accounted for 93 percent of all cheese aged globally last year, and those facilities were involved in 76 percent of the contamination incidents.

(D) The average duration of the cheese-aging process across the 14 percent of facilities was nearly double the global median for artisan cheese production.

(E) The 14 percent of facilities experienced a 100 percent increase in their total production capacity over the previous fiscal year.

 


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What the author is trying to convey in the first two line:

Let's say there are a 100 centers for cheese aging, out of those 14 are involved for 85% of cases of bacterial contaminations.

In the next part, the aim is to convey - All facilities use the same types of storage measures, and hence, the difference must be in the way these 14 facilities handled the cheese.

We need to look for arguments which weaken the above conclusion(in bold)

By the process of elimination:

(A) : If they handled a higher volume, this abnormality can be justified and weakens the case that the issue is with handling of cheese, we ccan put this aside for now

(B): If anything, it strengthens the argument, eliminated

(C): Even if there is an overlap of these 12 facilities with our 14 facilities, it does not mention anything about what is different between the handling of cheese in the 14/84.

(D) Longer aging process does not mean contamination, nor is it implied anywhere, hence, eliminated

(E) Increased production does not mean they produced more cheese, hence, not meaning, contamination. Eliminated.

I myself took my sweet time deciding between (C) and (A)

But I'm going with A since it resonates more with the passage's conclusion, which is, higher volume = more cheese = more chance of contamination


Bunuel
In 85 percent of the bacterial contamination incidents recorded at artisan cheese aging facilities last year, one or another of a group consisting of only 14 percent of the world's artisan aging facilities was involved. Since the other 86 percent of facilities generally use the same types of cave ventilation and temperature-control systems as these high-contamination facilities, significant differences in aging and handling practices must have been responsible for the disparity.

Which of the following, if true about artisan cheese aging facilities last year, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) The 14 percent of facilities with the most contamination incidents collectively aged a greater total volume of cheese than any other comparable-sized group of facilities.

(B) Regional food safety inspectors issued far more hygiene citations to the high-contamination facilities than to the other facilities last year.

(C) Twelve percent of the facilities accounted for 93 percent of all cheese aged globally last year, and those facilities were involved in 76 percent of the contamination incidents.

(D) The average duration of the cheese-aging process across the 14 percent of facilities was nearly double the global median for artisan cheese production.

(E) The 14 percent of facilities experienced a 100 percent increase in their total production capacity over the previous fiscal year.

 


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What the author is trying to convey in the first two line:

Let's say there are a 100 centers for cheese aging, out of those 14 are involved for 85% of cases of bacterial contaminations.

In the next part, the aim is to convey - All facilities use the same types of storage measures, and hence, the difference must be in the way these 14 facilities handled the cheese.

We need to look for arguments which weaken the above conclusion(in bold)

By the process of elimination:

(A) : If they handled a higher volume, this abnormality can be justified and weakens the case that the issue is with handling of cheese, we ccan put this aside for now

(B): If anything, it strengthens the argument, eliminated

(C): Even if there is an overlap of these 12 facilities with our 14 facilities, it does not mention anything about what is different between the handling of cheese in the 14/84.

(D) Longer aging process does not mean contamination, nor is it implied anywhere, hence, eliminated

(E) Increased production does not mean they produced more cheese, hence, not meaning, contamination. Eliminated.

I myself took my sweet time deciding between (C) and (A)

But I'm going with A since it resonates more with the passage's conclusion, which is, higher volume = more cheese = more chance of contamination


Bunuel
In 85 percent of the bacterial contamination incidents recorded at artisan cheese aging facilities last year, one or another of a group consisting of only 14 percent of the world's artisan aging facilities was involved. Since the other 86 percent of facilities generally use the same types of cave ventilation and temperature-control systems as these high-contamination facilities, significant differences in aging and handling practices must have been responsible for the disparity.

Which of the following, if true about artisan cheese aging facilities last year, most seriously weakens the argument above?

(A) The 14 percent of facilities with the most contamination incidents collectively aged a greater total volume of cheese than any other comparable-sized group of facilities.

(B) Regional food safety inspectors issued far more hygiene citations to the high-contamination facilities than to the other facilities last year.

(C) Twelve percent of the facilities accounted for 93 percent of all cheese aged globally last year, and those facilities were involved in 76 percent of the contamination incidents.

(D) The average duration of the cheese-aging process across the 14 percent of facilities was nearly double the global median for artisan cheese production.

(E) The 14 percent of facilities experienced a 100 percent increase in their total production capacity over the previous fiscal year.

 


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I forgot posting my answer analysis on the day this question was posted:
(A) The 14 percent of facilities with the most contamination incidents collectively aged a greater total volume of cheese than any other comparable-sized group of facilities. <<-- Greater, sure, but we need it be overwhelmingly larger volume for the report% to be close to the report% of the rest of the group.

(B) Regional food safety inspectors issued far more hygiene citations to the high-contamination facilities than to the other facilities last year. <--Does not weaken the conclusion at all.

(C) Twelve percent of the facilities accounted for 93 percent of all cheese aged globally last year, and those facilities were involved in 76 percent of the contamination incidents. Bingo! overwhelmingly large volume exaggerated the report% for a large number of these facilities.
(D) The average duration of the cheese-aging process across the 14 percent of facilities was nearly double the global median for artisan cheese production. Irrelevant

(E) The 14 percent of facilities experienced a 100 percent increase in their total production capacity over the previous fiscal year. Sure, but I don't know if the original was large enough for 100% of it to be considered overwhelming. Ex. one manufacturer could be making only two cheese wheels, then the entire production increased to 4 wheels. Not the large volume I was looking for.

Here is my prethinking: Suppose, when solving gmat questions, my error rate is 10% and so is my friend's. However, my friend solves 4x the questions I do on any given day. So if I solved 20 questions and my friend solves 80, she makes 8 errors, I make 2. The error report showed that she made 80% of the errors. Does not mean she is more or less accurate. Just that she solved a lot more.
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Hey Bunuel could you have a look at this please for the Kudos, thanks :)

bhanu29

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A. Irrelevant as it doesent seriously weaken the argument. It just tells us that aged more cheese than any other group of 14% size, but doesent state it for the entire world supply. The remaining 86% can still produce more cheese in total
B. Irrelevant as it doesent weaken the argument but strengthens tit rather. If they did receive more hygiene citation, it confirms their practices were significantly worse and responsible for the contamination.
C. Relevant as it seriously weakens the argument by shifting the blame from handling practices to volume mainly. It tells us that a 12% of the facilities handles almost 93% of the world's cheese. If they are doing almost all the production, it makes sense that they have the majority of the contamination incidents. This seriously damages the conclusion that bad practices are to be blamed.
D. Irrelevant as it doesent seriously weaken the argument. The length of the aging process is a type of practice and just shows a difference in practices which also possibly aligns with the author's conclusion
E. Irrelevant as it doesent seriously weaken the argument since an increase in capacity doesent really tell us how much cheese they produced relative to the global total last year

C.
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bb

In the option it is not mentioned that these 12% of the facilities are a part of 14% of the highly contaminated groups. They can be part of rest 86% also. If that is the case then the reason for contamination can be anything else but volume. So how come this is the answer? Bunuel Kindly explain.https://gmatclub.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&un=Bunuel
Bunuel


GMAT Club Official Explanation

The argument eliminates equipment as a cause of the disparity - the 86 percent of facilities with lower contamination rates use the same ventilation and temperature-control systems - and concludes that aging and handling practices must explain why 14 percent of facilities were involved in 85 percent of contamination incidents. To weaken the argument, the correct answer must offer an alternative explanation for the raw count disparity.

(A) Incorrect. This is the key trap. It introduces volume as a potential alternative cause - if the 14 percent aged more cheese, more contamination incidents would be expected. However, knowing they aged more than any other comparable-sized group does not establish what fraction of global cheese aging they represent. Without that figure, there is no way to determine whether their volume of aging actually accounts for 85 percent of incidents. The argument cannot be undermined by a volume claim that is too vague to be compared against the incident proportion.

(B) Incorrect. More hygiene citations at the high-contamination facilities indicate that inspectors identified more hygiene-related violations there - confirming that practices at those facilities differed from those of other facilities. This supports the argument's conclusion rather than undermining it.

(C) Correct. If 12 percent of facilities - corresponding to the high-contamination group - handled 93 percent of all cheese aged globally last year, then their disproportionate share of contamination incidents is explained by their vastly greater exposure, not by inferior practices. Notably, being involved in only 76 percent of incidents while accounting for 93 percent of all aging means their per-unit contamination rate was actually below the global average. The raw count disparity the argument relies on is therefore a product of volume, not of deficient practices, and the conclusion does not follow.

(D) Incorrect. Aging duration is itself an aging practice - it falls squarely within the "aging and handling practices" the argument identifies as the cause of the disparity. If the high-contamination facilities age cheese for nearly twice as long as the global median, that confirms a practice difference between the two groups, which supports the conclusion rather than undermining it.

(E) Incorrect. A doubling of production capacity does not establish that these facilities actually produced twice as much cheese during the relevant period, nor does it indicate what share of global cheese aging they represent. Even if capacity was fully utilized, we would still need to know their fraction of global aging output relative to their fraction of contamination incidents to determine whether volume explains the disparity. This choice provides insufficient information to undermine the conclusion.
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Hi VenkataSai,

This is a sharp question, and the good news is the numbers themselves close the door you're worried about. Let me show you why the 12% in C cannot hide inside the 86% group.

Start from what the stimulus locks in:

- The 14% high-contamination group = 85% of incidents.
- So the other 86% of facilities together account for only 15% of incidents (100%85%).

Now read C carefully: "Twelve percent of the facilities ... were involved in 76 percent of the contamination incidents."

Here's the key move. Suppose, as you fear, that this 12% were entirely part of the low-contamination 86% group. Then that 86% group would have to contain at least 76% of all incidents. But we just established the 86% group holds only 15%. That's a flat contradiction - impossible.

Why overlap is forced

The 86% group can supply at most 15% of incidents. So of C's 76%, at most 15% could come from facilities in the 86% group - meaning at least 61% of all incidents must come from facilities that sit inside the 14% high-contamination group. The overlap isn't an assumption; the arithmetic requires it.

So the 12% in C is essentially the same set of heavy hitters as the 14% in the stimulus - and C tells us that set aged 93% of the world's cheese. That's the alternative cause: their huge share of incidents just tracks their huge share of volume, not worse practices. In fact 76% of incidents on 93% of volume means a below-average rate - the opposite of "bad practices."

That's also exactly why A loses: "greater than any comparable-sized group" never pins down what share of global volume they handle, so it can't force the overlap or the volume explanation the way C's hard numbers do.

Your instinct to check the overlap was the right thing to test - the numbers just happen to settle it decisively.

Answer: C

VenkataSai
bb

In the option it is not mentioned that these 12% of the facilities are a part of 14% of the highly contaminated groups. They can be part of rest 86% also. If that is the case then the reason for contamination can be anything else but volume. So how come this is the answer? Bunuel Kindly explain.https://gmatclub.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&un=Bunuel

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