Ross: The profitability of Company X, restored to private ownership fi

Question

Ross: The profitability of Company X, restored to private ownership five years ago, is clear evidence that businesses will always fare better under private than under public ownership.

Julia: Wrong. A close look at the records shows that X has been profitable since the appointment of a first-class manager, which happened while X was still in the pubic sector.

Which of the following best describes the weak point in Ross’s claim on which Julia’s response focuses?

(A) The evidence Ross cites comes from only a single observed case, that of Company X.

(B) The profitability of Company X might be only temporary.

(C) Ross’s statement leaves open the possibility that the cause he cites came after the effect he attributes to it.

(D) No mention is made of companies that are partly government owned and partly privately owned.

(E) No exact figures are given for the current profits of Company X

sidhu4u · Accepted Answer

I think the answer is C.
According to Ross's Argument:

Time ------->>------------------>>------------------>>
PublicOwnership -> PrivateOwnerShip -> Profitability

However the following case is also possible.

Time ------->>------------------>>------------------>>
Public Ownership -> Profitability -> Private OwnerShip -> Still Profitable

In the first case Ross attributes Profitability (effect) to Private Ownership (Cause).
However it could also be that Public Ownership(actualCause) leads to Profitability (effect) followed later in time by PrivateOwnership (Ross's theoretical cause) as shown in the second case.

In this case Ross's cause comes after the effect that he attributes to the cause.
This is the weak point which Julia's response focuses on, that Company X became profitable while still under Public ownership.

militarytocorp · Answer

Ross: The profitability of Company X, restored to private ownership five years ago, is clear evidence that businesses will always fare better under private than under public ownership.

Julia: Wrong. A close look at the records shows that X has been profitable since the appointment of a first-class manager, which happened while X was still in the pubic sector.

Which of the following best describes the weak point in Ross’s claim on which Julia’s response focuses?

(A) The evidence Ross cites comes from only a single observed case, that of Company X.

(B) The profitability of Company X might be only temporary.

(C) Ross’s statement leaves open the possibility that the cause he cites came after the effect he attributes to it.

(D) No mention is made of companies that are partly government owned and partly privately owned.

(E) No exact figures are given for the current profits of Company X

+ 1 for option C.....almost all other options are considerably irrelevant wrt to ross' claim

Abhishek009 · Answer

Ross : PRofitability of X = Change from Public ---------> Pvt Ownership ( 5 Years Ago), Thus , Pvt Ownership = Better.
Julia : Wrong , since the Firm since the appointment of a first-class manager resulted in Profitability & the manager was appointed during Public Ownership.

(A) single observed case ... of Company X : Irrelevant
(B) Only Temporary : Not our concern, out of scope.
(D) partly government owned and partly privately owned companies : Out of scope & Irrelevant.
(E) figures about the current profits of Company X : Out of context and Irrelevant.

Correct Answer choice (C) states that change in Ownership came after the appointment of first Class Manager.

adkikani · Answer

gmat1393   generis   aragonn   VeritasKarishma   nightblade354   Abhishek009

I am stuck between A and C.

Ross's claim: businesses will always fare better under private than under public ownership.
Ross's evidence: 5 years ago, ownership changed from public to private. Hence cause (private ownership) -> effect (higher profits)

Julia disputes Ross's claim. Her evidence: A closer look suggests that not ownership, but how manager managed the show contributed to profits.

What is weakener in Ross's claim?

Yes, see jump from a particular company X to all general businesses.

Irrelavant. Time duration of company is not our agenda, the cause leading to profits is the one where are concerned with.

I found too complex to comprehend what this option is saying. There is no sequence of cause that Julia pointed out as flaw.
In fact, she pointed out alternate cause (better management) than ownership.

Irrelavant to scope of argument.

We are not concerned with exact profit numbers, we are concerned with the cause that led to higher profits.

dave13 · Answer

@ @adkikani To make it short: Ross says that company run under private ownership brought MORE profits than under PUBLIC OWNERSHIP (public ownership means that some govermental entity was managing the company, let it be Ministry of transportation that runs Railway company) Julia says claims that the company became profitable since the times when the Railway company was managed by government and at that time the FIRST CLASS MANAGER was appointed (public ownership) in other words the railway was managed at first by government and than it was acquired by some businessman. All you have to do is to strengthen Julia`s claim C clearly states Ross’s statement leaves open the possibility that the cause he cites came after the effect he attributes to it. C says that the Roos`s claim misses the possibility that Railway company became more profitable DUE to the fact that it was run INITIALLY under public ownership

aragonn · Answer

adkikani  - For understanding this situation you should think from jim's POV. Think what Jim has missed. Where he can go wrong. While you have to assume that julia is right all the way. let see the sequence.

So company was 
1. public but in loss, 2. public but in profit cause of first class manager, 3. private and profitable uptill now.

I think you can see now that hoe C can be fit in. Jim thought ignored the fact that company was profitable evan before going private.

Hope you can visualize, that is the key in GMAT CR. Let me know if you need further help.

aragonn · Answer

dave13  - Respectfully, I disagree with the fact "All you have to do is to strengthen Julia`s claim."

I think there is a fine line between "the weak point in Ross’s claim on which Julia’s response focuses?" and "All you have to do is to strengthen Julia`s claim.". Definitely these two overlaps but not the same things. Consider this situation.

The first class manager on his joining day announced that he will take the company X private by end of the quarter. Now same choice is giving a different meaning. All I am saying is that with this pre-thinking you can fall in a trap.

SonGoku · Answer

Which of the following best describes the weak point in Ross’s claim on which Julia’s response focuses?
Here both are talking about the same company X.
Ross says that private ownership was better than public Because of current profits.
Julia says that profits we because of some manager who was appointed when company X was a public company.

we're talking about one company only and one case,But julias response was on not only on the profits but also on the management.
Eliminate A
 
Nowhere it was mentioned in the argument.
Irrelevant.Eliminate B
 
this is what exactly happened in the arguments. julia argued about the appointment that happened 5 years ago.
Keep it.
 
Irrelevant.We just talked about X.
Eliminate it
 
irrelevant.
Eliminate it.
 Answer is C

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

It may be best to eliminate all the wrong options here before choosing the correct answer. Sometimes the language is written in a scrabbled way to, perhaps, "blank-face" a test-taker. Best to temporarily yellow flag it and look at the rest.

-contact: www.gmatknight.com | gmatclub dm

-contact:  www.gmatknight.com  | gmatclub dm

CEdward · Answer

Ross: The profitability of Company X, restored to private ownership five years ago, is clear evidence that businesses will always fare better under private than under public ownership.

Julia: Wrong. A close look at the records shows that X has been profitable since the appointment of a first-class manager, which happened while X was still in the pubic sector.

Which of the following best describes the weak point in Ross’s claim on which Julia’s response focuses?

(A) The evidence Ross cites comes from only a  single observed case, that of Company X .
This is true, but it’s not the weak point that Julia’s response focuses on, which is the temporal aspect of when the profitability emerged for company X.

(B) The profitability of Company X might be only  temporary. 
This addresses the temporal aspect I alluded to in A), but it’s not the right one. We need something that addresses the fact that the profitability came before the switch to private ownership (which is exactly what Julia is saying).

(C) Ross’s statement leaves open the possibility that the cause he cites came after the effect he attributes to it.
Correct.

(D) No mention is made of companies that are  partly government owned and partly privately owned. 
Not what Julia focused on.

(E)  No exact figures are given  for the current profits of Company 
Again, true, but not what Julia focuses on.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Ross: The profitability of Company X, restored to private ownership fi

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