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In Episode 3 of our GMAT Ninja Critical Reasoning series, we tackle Discrepancy, Paradox, and Explain an Oddity questions. You know the feeling: the passage gives you two facts that seem completely contradictory....- May 05
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GMAT Inequalities is a high-frequency topic in GMAT Quant, but many students struggle because the concepts behave differently from standard algebra. Understanding the right rules, patterns, and edge cases can significantly improve both speed and accuracy. - May 08
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07 Feb 2022, 08:50
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In light of the epidemic, the government needs to first and foremost ensure the health and well-being of its citizens. Allowing the adult population to return to work uninhibited or, for that matter, the student population to return to school, would only likely continue to spread the virus and destabilize the economy. Once infection and death rates have both fallen to acceptable levels set by the World Health Organization and our national government, our leaders can focus on reining in inflation and increasing funds to education and the technology sector.
In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
A. The first presents a problem; the second provides an alternative to an argument the passage as a whole seeks to defend.
B. The first presents a recommendation to address a problem; the second outlines a course of action that focuses on a solution to a different problem.
C. The first is a premise for the conclusion of the passage; the second is that conclusion.
D. The first provides an intermediate conclusion; the second is the main conclusion of the passage.
E. The first proposes a solution to a problem; the second provides a counterproposal to the first.
In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
A. The first presents a problem; the second provides an alternative to an argument the passage as a whole seeks to defend.
B. The first presents a recommendation to address a problem; the second outlines a course of action that focuses on a solution to a different problem.
C. The first is a premise for the conclusion of the passage; the second is that conclusion.
D. The first provides an intermediate conclusion; the second is the main conclusion of the passage.
E. The first proposes a solution to a problem; the second provides a counterproposal to the first.
07 Feb 2022, 08:50
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Official Solution:
[b]In light of the epidemic, the government needs to first and foremost ensure the health and well-being of its citizens. Allowing the adult population to return to work uninhibited or, for that matter, the student population to return to school, would only likely continue to spread the virus and destabilize the economy. Once infection and death rates have both fallen to acceptable levels set by the World Health Organization and our national government, our leaders can focus on reining in inflation and increasing funds to education and the technology sector.
In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
[/b]
A. The first presents a problem; the second provides an alternative to an argument the passage as a whole seeks to defend.
B. The first presents a recommendation to address a problem; the second outlines a course of action that focuses on a solution to a different problem.
C. The first is a premise for the conclusion of the passage; the second is that conclusion.
D. The first provides an intermediate conclusion; the second is the main conclusion of the passage.
E. The first proposes a solution to a problem; the second provides a counterproposal to the first.
Ah, boldface. I have seen few question types that elicit such a strong response from GMATTM aspirants. For my part, I used to hate them, thinking them overly wrought and steeped in legalese; now I enjoy attacking them, particularly by singling out one portion or the other as nonsense in a given answer choice. In this way, I feel as though I only need to do half the work, and when I land on the correct answer, it feels so gratifying.
First things first—do NOT assume a boldfaced passage will follow the typical pattern of other CR passages: background information, premise(s), argument/conclusion. Between that assumption and students deciding that they do not need to read the part(s) of the passage that are not in boldface, these are the two most common mistakes I see in an approach to such questions. Just read the passage as you would any other, sentence by sentence, and see if you can follow the thread across each period. Speaking to that point, I will avoid my typical sentence-by-sentence breakdown, since we can tease out what each sentence is doing in our analysis of the answer choices.
Right out of the gates, I see a questionable identification of that first boldfaced line. Yes, it mentions a problem, the epidemic, but as soon as we jump across the comma, the government needs turns into something intended to persuade. I would not eliminate this answer choice right away, but the tag to the second boldfaced line is completely off. An alternative to the argument? What argument would that be? The last line does not serve as an alternative to the first line, but is instead a logical continuation of it. Basically, fix A (first boldface), then focus on B (second boldface). Neither is the second line serving as the argument in question. Finally, the passage as a whole seeks to defend is baseless jargon. This passage is not defending anything. It merely presents an extended argument.
Bingo! Looking back at the first boldface, again, a problem is brought up, but a proposal for the government makes up the main clause. As for the second boldface, a course of action checks out—the government should follow WHO and internal guidelines regarding infection and death rates, then shift to domestic economic concerns—and a solution to a different problem also passes the litmus test—reign in inflation and increase funds to X and Y. There is nothing to debate here.
Whether the first boldfaced portion can be labeled a premise is up for debate. Yes, it fuels the second boldfaced portion, but I would not say that because the first is established, the second can necessarily be deduced. That would be a proper premise-conclusion link. In any case, the second boldfaced portion is not the conclusion of the passage. As discussed above, the passage is more of an extended argument, without a discernible conclusion.
This is more technical drivel that is tossed in in these sorts of questions to throw people off the scent. You want to start making a conclusion out of something, if for no other reason than that the word is mentioned twice—i.e. perhaps you missed the point of the passage, and you start to doubt that initial read. But no, there is nothing of substance here. Neither the first boldface nor the second can be called a conclusion. Could you place a thus or therefore at the beginning of either sentence and point to some other line as a premise?
This one starts off well enough. Yes, the opening line about the government needing to do something is indeed a proposal to solve a problem. But in no way does the second boldface counter the first. To do that, the second boldface would need to contradict the proposal made earlier, to say something to the effect that the government should not ensure the health and well-being of its citizens. Instead, the second says that once the first part is done, a new issue can be addressed.
To recap, feel free to attack either side of a boldface question answer choice, as opposed to weighing the pros and cons of each option holistically. Sometimes you can spot obvious nonsense in a first pass that will set you up for success on a second. For instance, if I were taking the exam and came across this question, I might read the passage and just think of the first line. Of the answer choices, looking at just the first half, I would feel comfortable eliminating (D), and (A) and (C) would be doubtful; if I started with the second boldface instead (which I do sometimes, especially if the second is easier to assess in the passage), I would feel confident tossing all the answer choices except for (B) into the trash heap. I would then check the first half of (B) to make sure it agreed with the passage, and that would be that.
Answer: B
[b]In light of the epidemic, the government needs to first and foremost ensure the health and well-being of its citizens. Allowing the adult population to return to work uninhibited or, for that matter, the student population to return to school, would only likely continue to spread the virus and destabilize the economy. Once infection and death rates have both fallen to acceptable levels set by the World Health Organization and our national government, our leaders can focus on reining in inflation and increasing funds to education and the technology sector.
In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
[/b]
A. The first presents a problem; the second provides an alternative to an argument the passage as a whole seeks to defend.
B. The first presents a recommendation to address a problem; the second outlines a course of action that focuses on a solution to a different problem.
C. The first is a premise for the conclusion of the passage; the second is that conclusion.
D. The first provides an intermediate conclusion; the second is the main conclusion of the passage.
E. The first proposes a solution to a problem; the second provides a counterproposal to the first.
Ah, boldface. I have seen few question types that elicit such a strong response from GMATTM aspirants. For my part, I used to hate them, thinking them overly wrought and steeped in legalese; now I enjoy attacking them, particularly by singling out one portion or the other as nonsense in a given answer choice. In this way, I feel as though I only need to do half the work, and when I land on the correct answer, it feels so gratifying.
Quote:
First things first—do NOT assume a boldfaced passage will follow the typical pattern of other CR passages: background information, premise(s), argument/conclusion. Between that assumption and students deciding that they do not need to read the part(s) of the passage that are not in boldface, these are the two most common mistakes I see in an approach to such questions. Just read the passage as you would any other, sentence by sentence, and see if you can follow the thread across each period. Speaking to that point, I will avoid my typical sentence-by-sentence breakdown, since we can tease out what each sentence is doing in our analysis of the answer choices.
Quote:
Right out of the gates, I see a questionable identification of that first boldfaced line. Yes, it mentions a problem, the epidemic, but as soon as we jump across the comma, the government needs turns into something intended to persuade. I would not eliminate this answer choice right away, but the tag to the second boldfaced line is completely off. An alternative to the argument? What argument would that be? The last line does not serve as an alternative to the first line, but is instead a logical continuation of it. Basically, fix A (first boldface), then focus on B (second boldface). Neither is the second line serving as the argument in question. Finally, the passage as a whole seeks to defend is baseless jargon. This passage is not defending anything. It merely presents an extended argument.
Quote:
Bingo! Looking back at the first boldface, again, a problem is brought up, but a proposal for the government makes up the main clause. As for the second boldface, a course of action checks out—the government should follow WHO and internal guidelines regarding infection and death rates, then shift to domestic economic concerns—and a solution to a different problem also passes the litmus test—reign in inflation and increase funds to X and Y. There is nothing to debate here.
Quote:
Whether the first boldfaced portion can be labeled a premise is up for debate. Yes, it fuels the second boldfaced portion, but I would not say that because the first is established, the second can necessarily be deduced. That would be a proper premise-conclusion link. In any case, the second boldfaced portion is not the conclusion of the passage. As discussed above, the passage is more of an extended argument, without a discernible conclusion.
Quote:
This is more technical drivel that is tossed in in these sorts of questions to throw people off the scent. You want to start making a conclusion out of something, if for no other reason than that the word is mentioned twice—i.e. perhaps you missed the point of the passage, and you start to doubt that initial read. But no, there is nothing of substance here. Neither the first boldface nor the second can be called a conclusion. Could you place a thus or therefore at the beginning of either sentence and point to some other line as a premise?
Quote:
This one starts off well enough. Yes, the opening line about the government needing to do something is indeed a proposal to solve a problem. But in no way does the second boldface counter the first. To do that, the second boldface would need to contradict the proposal made earlier, to say something to the effect that the government should not ensure the health and well-being of its citizens. Instead, the second says that once the first part is done, a new issue can be addressed.
To recap, feel free to attack either side of a boldface question answer choice, as opposed to weighing the pros and cons of each option holistically. Sometimes you can spot obvious nonsense in a first pass that will set you up for success on a second. For instance, if I were taking the exam and came across this question, I might read the passage and just think of the first line. Of the answer choices, looking at just the first half, I would feel comfortable eliminating (D), and (A) and (C) would be doubtful; if I started with the second boldface instead (which I do sometimes, especially if the second is easier to assess in the passage), I would feel confident tossing all the answer choices except for (B) into the trash heap. I would then check the first half of (B) to make sure it agreed with the passage, and that would be that.
Answer: B
02 Jun 2024, 01:12
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I think this the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate.
