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555-605 Level|   Weaken|      
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ReedArnoldMPREP
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Travel agents are market intermediaries who make their 24 Sep 2022, 10:55
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Tanchat
Dear experts, GMATNinja AndrewN IanStewart

D. The people who currently use the services of travel agents are also those most likely to gain access to new
information technologies

I'm not sure how I can interpret (D). It can mean either those people who are likely to gain access to new information tech will not use the travel agents and do research by themselves (this can strengthen) or those people still use the travel agents even they can access to new information tech (this can weaken).
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If the people who use travel agencies did not have the new resources that can access the information, the argument is clearly weaker--the same people have reason to use travel agents. If these people *do* have access to the new information, this argument is stronger (you acknowledge this here:

Quote:
It can mean either those people who are likely to gain access to new information tech will not use the travel agents and do research by themselves
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Now, is it *possible* that the people who use travel agents will keep using them, even though they could find the information themselves. Sure! It's possible. But the information, as written, *strengthens the argument.*

Here's an important fact about CR: don't treat answer choices like conclusions of arguments.

In a CR argument, we're supposed to ID what the conclusion is, and say, "Okay, but maybe that won't happen though! Maybe something else is true that keeps the conclusion from happening!"

Then we're asked to 'weaken' an argument, for instance. We read answer choice D, which, on its face, *strengthens* the argument. But if we apply to it the same critical doubt we apply to *the conclusion itself*, we can talk ourselves into choosing D. "Well, D seems to strengthen the argument, but maybe it *doesn't!* Maybe something else is true that keeps the 'strengthening' from happening, and maybe that 'something else' actually DOES weaken the argument!"

Same thing on a 'strengthen' question. We find an answer that seems to strengthen the argument (the right answer), but we talk ourselves out of it because it's like "Yeah, but maybe something else is true that keeps the 'strengthening' from happening!" Don't do this.

This all stems from being critical of answer choices in the same way you're critical of CONCLUSIONS. But *don't do that!* If an answer strengthens or weakens *on its own*, don't try to *talk it back*.
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Travel agents are market intermediaries who make their 25 Sep 2022, 04:58
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Travel agents are market intermediaries who make their living by gathering, organizing, and dispensing information about travel-related services that is not readily available to most consumers. Through new information technologies, such as the internet much of this information can now be made directly available to consumers. Therefore, as more consumers gain access to these new technologies, demand for the services of travel agents will be drastically reduced.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. Travel agents routinely use the internet and other new information technologies as sources for the information they obtain for their customers. - Does not weaken the argument that the demand for the services of travel agents will be drastically reduced

B. The amount of information available through the internet and other new information technologies is increasing
faster than the capabilities of most consumers to process it - CORRECT, if the consumers are not able to process the information available through information technologies, the demand of services of travel agents is not going to decrease

C. Many people use travel-related services, such as airlines and hotels without consulting a travel agent. - If many people are not using travel agents' services, we can't conclude that the services of travel agents would be in less demand

D. The people who currently use the services of travel agents are also those most likely to gain access to new
information technologies - We need to weaken that the travel agents' services would be in less demand if the consumers gain access to new information technologies

E. The internet and other new information technologies are currently used by a relatively small proportion of the
population - Current scenario of information technologies usage does not weaken the argument that demand for services of travel agents would reduce
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Travel agents are market intermediaries who make their 23 Apr 2023, 14:17
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Dear experts,

Doesn't choice D say that 'even though these people have access to new information technologies, they still use travel agents'?

So couldn't we interpret that this choice advises that it is unlikely for this group to switch from using TA to using the access? That weakens the argument.
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Travel agents are market intermediaries who make their 19 Nov 2023, 16:27
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Understanding the argument -
Travel agents are market intermediaries who make their living by gathering, organizing, and dispensing information about travel-related services that are not readily available to most consumers. Fact
Through new information technologies, such as the Internet, much of this information can now be made directly available to consumers. Fact
Therefore, as more consumers gain access to these new technologies, demand for the services of travel agents will be drastically reduced. - Conclusion

What if there is some way that there'll still be demand for travel agenda? What if these information technologies provide a plethora of information that is difficult for the user to process? This is what option B does. In that case, the demand will continue. (I know we are doing our bookings without travel agents; it is pretty standard these days :) But let's not bring in outside information, and let's stick to the argument for now)

Option Elimination -

A. Travel agents routinely use the internet and other new information technologies as sources for the information they obtain for their customers. Strengthener

B. The amount of information available through the internet and other new information technologies is increasing faster than the capabilities of most consumers to process it - ok

C. Many people use travel-related services, such as airlines and hotels, without consulting a travel agent. - Strengthener

D. The people who currently use the services of travel agents are also those most likely to gain access to new information technologies - Strengthener

E. The Internet and other new information technologies are currently used by a relatively small proportion of the population - Even 1% of 6 billion people is a significant number. Moreover, option E talks about now and the scope of our argument "demand for the services of travel agents will be drastically reduced," is about the future. And even if it's small today, it may increase in the future. Distortion.
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Travel agents are market intermediaries who make their 30 Sep 2025, 07:34
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I can see why this weaken question might be tricky - it's testing a really important distinction that many students miss.

Let me walk you through the core logic here. The argument is making a prediction: as more people get internet access, demand for travel agents will drop drastically. But notice what the author is assuming - that having access to information is the same as being able to use it effectively.

Here's how to approach this systematically:

Step 1: Identify the conclusion
The author concludes that travel agent demand will be "drastically reduced" as more consumers get internet access.

Step 2: Find the key assumption
The argument assumes that if people can access travel information directly online, they won't need travel agents anymore. In other words, access to information = ability to use that information effectively.

Step 3: Look for what attacks this assumption
We need something that shows why people might still need travel agents even when they have direct access to information.

Step 4: Evaluate the winner
Choice B directly attacks the core assumption. If information is growing faster than people's ability to process it, then having access actually creates a bigger problem - information overload! This means travel agents become more valuable, not less, because they help organize and filter overwhelming amounts of data.

The key insight here is recognizing that the argument confuses access with effective use. Choice B shows that more access can actually increase the need for professional help, completely undermining the conclusion.

This question demonstrates a classic pattern in weaken questions where you need to distinguish between having something and being able to use it effectively. You can check out the comprehensive framework for tackling assumption-based weaken questions on Neuron, where you'll also learn to spot similar patterns across different contexts. You can practice with detailed solutions for many other official Critical Reasoning questions here to build systematic accuracy in this question type.
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