Last visit was: 22 Apr 2026, 12:40

It is currently 22 Apr 2026, 12:40

Toolkit

Practice Tests

GMAT Club Daily Prep

Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.

Go to My Error Log Learn more

Request Expert Reply

Confirm Cancel

Apr 26
Score High on the GMAT with Target Test Prep
10:00 AM EDT
-
11:00 AM EDT
The Target Test Prep course represents a quantum leap forward in GMAT preparation, a radical reinterpretation of the way that students should study. Try before you buy with a 5-day, full-access trial of the course for FREE!
Apr 27
Try OnDemand GMAT Masterclass
11:00 AM EDT
-
12:00 PM EDT
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors
Apr 28
Join - GMAT Day!
08:00 AM PDT
-
11:00 AM PDT
Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.

Back to Forum

Create Topic

V38-12

1 2 3

Founder

Joined: 04 Dec 2002

Last visit: 22 Apr 2026

Posts: 43,152

Own Kudos:

83,705

Given Kudos: 24,672

Location: United States

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

GPA: 3

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

Posts: 43,152

Kudos: 83,705

Updated on: 23 Aug 2025, 22:17

Originally posted by bb on 23 Aug 2025, 22:16.
Last edited by bb on 23 Aug 2025, 22:17, edited 1 time in total.

Kudos

Bookmarks

pipet

I don’t quite agree with the solution. The text says that the industry will continue to innovate "as long as" it receives sufficient investment, implying that for innovation sufficient investment is REQUIRED. Thus if it doesn't get the investment the industry will not innovate. I believe the correct answer is A.

For refuting B: the industry will remain competitive "as long as" it continues to innovate. Innovation is required; however, even if there is innovation the industry may not be competitive and thus not benefit from the agreement.

Hi pipet and thank you for the question. You are absolutely right except one point - this is not Either Or situation. It is well described and outlined in the explanation (I feel).

Consider this situation about sufficient investment - what if the industry receives 1,000,000 each year for innovation but the next year it only received 900,000 for innovation? Will it stop innovating? No. It will still innovate and it may still be enough. A sufficient investment guarantees innovation but an insufficient investment does not guarantee that innovation will NOT take place.

E.g. if you give me a ride, I will get to work. But if you don't give me a ride, it does not mean I won't get to work. The explanation has a better analogy I feel to illustrate the logic.

hr1212

GMAT Forum Director

Joined: 18 Apr 2019

Last visit: 22 Apr 2026

Posts: 924

Own Kudos:

1,329

[1]

Given Kudos: 2,215

GMAT Focus 1: 775 Q90 V85 DI90 Verified score

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

GMAT Focus 1: 775 Q90 V85 DI90 Verified score

Posts: 924

Kudos: 1,329

[1]

24 Aug 2025, 05:23

Kudos

Bookmarks

Hi pipet,

Correct breakdown of the argument is =>

If sufficient investment, then innovate
If innovate, then industry remains competitive
If the industry remains competitive, then free trade agreement benefits company A's automobile industry

So, considering the above cause and effect statements, sequence in option A is reversed. Correct sequence for option A is "If not innovate, then it wouldn't have received sufficient investment"

And the causation is correctly identified in option B.

pipet

Khushe

Joined: 26 Jan 2022

Last visit: 16 Oct 2025

Posts: 10

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 251

Location: India

Schools: ISB

Posts: 10

Kudos: 1

26 Aug 2025, 05:19

Kudos

Bookmarks

I like the solution - it’s helpful.

emilygetssmart

Joined: 01 Sep 2025

Last visit: 24 Sep 2025

Posts: 2

Kudos: 0

02 Sep 2025, 19:48

Kudos

Bookmarks

I like the solution - it’s helpful.

ishaan452356

Joined: 23 Jun 2025

Last visit: 03 Apr 2026

Posts: 47

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 4

Products:

Posts: 47

Kudos: 5

03 Sep 2025, 11:17

Kudos

Bookmarks

I don’t quite agree with the solution. Much like all the others in the forum, I too, disagree that Answer B is correct. I've gone through all your explanations but I fail to see how the same logic can't be applied to B.

Founder

Joined: 04 Dec 2002

Last visit: 22 Apr 2026

Posts: 43,152

Own Kudos:

83,705

Given Kudos: 24,672

Location: United States

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

GPA: 3

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

Posts: 43,152

Kudos: 83,705

Updated on: 03 Sep 2025, 21:53

Originally posted by bb on 03 Sep 2025, 21:51.
Last edited by bb on 03 Sep 2025, 21:53, edited 2 times in total.

Kudos

Bookmarks

ishaan452356

Thank you. How can you apply the same logic to B?

A is the opposite. For example you can say if you beat every player in a tennis tournament, you will win the Tournament. But it does not automatically mean that you will lose if you don't beat every tennis player. You may have a draw or perhaps win on points or perhaps someone is disqualified who beat you. There is no 100% iron-clad certainty that you will NOT win, just a certainty that you will if you beat everyone. This is the situation with answer choice "A".

This logic does not apply to B.

lily123400

Joined: 31 Mar 2025

Last visit: 20 Jan 2026

Posts: 34

Own Kudos:

[1]

Given Kudos: 32

GMAT Focus 1: 665 Q84 V85 DI80 Verified score

Posts: 34

Kudos: 17

[1]

08 Sep 2025, 05:45

Kudos

Bookmarks

Initially I chose A but after some review I see why A does not make sense:
A. If the automobile industry in Country A does not receive sufficient investment, it will not continue to innovate.
I assume that the sufficient investment was the only way that they would innovate. More so I read it as Country A will only innovate if and only if it receives sufficient investment.

B. If the automobile industry in Country A continues to innovate, it will benefit from the free trade agreement.
When I first read this on the test, I didn't realize that there wasn't a step skipped from innovate to FTA. I see now it goes from innovate --> competitive globally. If it is competitive, then it will benefit so this is the right answer

Tushar777

Joined: 25 Feb 2020

Last visit: 18 Feb 2026

Posts: 5

Given Kudos: 132

Posts: 5

Kudos: 0

13 Sep 2025, 08:22

Kudos

Bookmarks

This is a great question that’s helpful for learning and I like the solution - it’s helpful.

veroaliquid

Joined: 15 Sep 2025

Last visit: 26 Sep 2025

Posts: 1

Kudos: 0

17 Sep 2025, 04:22

Kudos

Bookmarks

Hi Bunuel,
As I have learned during my prep, when we are solving CR questions and we come across a causality, we are supposed to know that the author while talking about that causality - let's say A causes B, also means that only A can cause B, no A means no B, and there's no external factor causing both. These are the things we use while solving Weaken/Strengthen questions as well. So does the same thing not apply here, so say that if there is no sufficient investment, there won't be innovation?

MartyMurray

Tutor

Joined: 11 Aug 2023

Last visit: 22 Apr 2026

Posts: 1,830

Own Kudos:

7,082

[1]

Given Kudos: 210

GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V51 Verified score

Expert

Expert reply

GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V51 Verified score

Posts: 1,830

Kudos: 7,082

[1]

17 Sep 2025, 05:25

Kudos

Bookmarks

veroaliquid

That's not quite accurate.

A causes B does not necessarily mean that "only A can cause B."

For example, if an author concludes that pesticides cause health problems,, the author may not mean that only pesticides cause health problems. Rather, the author may mean that pesticides are one of the causes of health problems.

So, when analyzing an argument about a causal relationship, we have to pay attention to the specifics of the argument to understand exactly the author's point.

Here's an example of a Weaken question that requires such attention to specifics because it doesn't work as one might expect.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/president-po ... 41722.html

Quote:

So does the same thing not apply here, so say that if there is no sufficient investment, there won't be innovation?

Let's review the statement from the passage.

it will continue to innovate as long as it receives sufficient investment

Reading that statement carefully, we see that, using "as long as," it conveys that, if there is sufficient investment, the industry will innovate.

Notice that it does not say that sufficient investment is the only possible cause of innovation. In other words, the passage never says that sufficient investment is necessary for innovation or that no sufficient investment means no innovation. After all, there could be other paths to innovation, such as reinvestment of profits.

Takeaway: When analyzing a causal argument, we have to be careful not to overrely on common patterns and instead consider specifics of the argument.

ritik156

Joined: 24 Nov 2024

Last visit: 06 Feb 2026

Posts: 7

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 48

Posts: 7

Kudos: 2

27 Sep 2025, 22:45

Kudos

Bookmarks

Can you provide links for questions on Mutual Exclusivity to practice?

Founder

Joined: 04 Dec 2002

Last visit: 22 Apr 2026

Posts: 43,152

Own Kudos:

83,705

Given Kudos: 24,672

Location: United States

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

GPA: 3

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

Posts: 43,152

Kudos: 83,705

10 Oct 2025, 18:22

Kudos

Bookmarks

ritik156

Can you provide links for questions on Mutual Exclusivity to practice?

Sure ritik156! Now that we have an AI-based search, it is easier to pull these things up:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/find.php?que ... g+%28CR%29

P.S. The search is still in Beta so excuse any imperfections.

maioresodit

Joined: 01 Oct 2025

Last visit: 20 Apr 2026

Posts: 11

Own Kudos:

[1]

Given Kudos: 8

Posts: 11

Kudos: 1

[1]

24 Oct 2025, 03:06

Kudos

Bookmarks

I like the solution - it’s helpful. The correct answer is B and I agree with that.

According to question,

If industry remains Competitive Globally(C.G) --> Free Trade Agreement(F.T.A) will benefit Country A's automobile industry

If it continues to Innovate(Inn.) --> the industry will remain Competitive globally(C.G)

If it receives Sufficient Investment(S.I) --> it will continue to innovate(Inn.)

so, C.G --> F.T.A
Inn. --> C.G
S.I --> Inn.

the chain goes like this: S.I --> Inn. --> C.G --> F.T.A (which can be referenced as A -> B -> C -> D
so A -> C or A -> D) we find the connection for this conditional statement directly for Inn. --> F.T.A

P.S. it is not necessary always to find contrapositive as sometimes the answer can be given using correlations between multiple conditional statements.

reshma989

Joined: 10 Nov 2024

Last visit: 24 Jan 2026

Posts: 2

Given Kudos: 3

Posts: 2

Kudos: 0

30 Oct 2025, 14:20

Kudos

Bookmarks

What is the guarantee that it will remain competitive if there is an innovation? If it is innovative, then it may or may not be competitive, right? So, if it is not competitive, then how can it benefit from the trade agreement?

Hi. Did you have a chance to take a look at the explanation?

The reason why A. is incorrect is that you’re looking at it in a very binary way.

For example, consider a statement such as this: if you win the lottery, you will be rich! Does it mean that you will never be rich if you don’t win the lottery?

The same is true here, the guarantee applies only to the guaranteed outcome but it doesn’t mean that the opposite will happen in all other cases.

Answer choice B, skips a step but the step it skips is guaranteed. We’re told that the competitiveness is guaranteed if they continue to innovate.

Founder

Joined: 04 Dec 2002

Last visit: 22 Apr 2026

Posts: 43,152

Own Kudos:

83,705

Given Kudos: 24,672

Location: United States

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

GPA: 3

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

Posts: 43,152

Kudos: 83,705

30 Oct 2025, 14:25

Kudos

Bookmarks

The passage gives us that guarantee:

that the industry will remain competitive as long as it continues to innovate;

Or did I misunderstand your question?

reshma989

reshma989

Joined: 10 Nov 2024

Last visit: 24 Jan 2026

Posts: 2

Given Kudos: 3

Posts: 2

Kudos: 0

30 Oct 2025, 15:59

Kudos

Bookmarks

You misunderstanding the question? Please😭 You’re the OG!!!!

My doubt was isn’t innovative considered as a necessary statement if we think in terms of gmat conditional reasoning? Whereas competitive is considered as sufficient?
The example that you gave totally makes sense but when i considered the conditional reasoning logic, i got confused again

The passage gives us that guarantee:

that the industry will remain competitive as long as it continues to innovate;

Or did I misunderstand your question?

Founder

Joined: 04 Dec 2002

Last visit: 22 Apr 2026

Posts: 43,152

Own Kudos:

83,705

Given Kudos: 24,672

Location: United States

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

GPA: 3

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

Posts: 43,152

Kudos: 83,705

Updated on: 16 Nov 2025, 21:42

Originally posted by bb on 30 Oct 2025, 16:17.
Last edited by bb on 16 Nov 2025, 21:42, edited 2 times in total.

Kudos

Bookmarks

Thank you for the compliment but I do misunderstand questions and make mistakes - I think you confuse me with Bunuel who does not have those problems 😂

I think I’m following you now.
I think you’re trying to question answer choice B. and whether we need to validate accuracy/conditions/assumptions.

The quick answer is no. We only need to evaluate the effect and not the cause.

We have if... then statements and we only need to evaluate the second part of that statement without doubting the first part because otherwise we’ll go in a circle and we have no solid ground to stand on to make our evaluation or in other words, we have not standard to begin with.

The “IF” is assumed to be true by the presence of “IF”
If you doubt that if, you have no correct answer

reshma989

providentvero

Joined: 14 Nov 2025

Last visit: 09 Dec 2025

Posts: 2

Kudos: 0

15 Nov 2025, 11:23

Kudos

Bookmarks

I like the solution - it’s helpful.

AliEjaz01

Joined: 07 Jun 2025

Last visit: 17 Jan 2026

Posts: 6

Given Kudos: 156

Posts: 6

Kudos: 0

20 Dec 2025, 09:03

Kudos

Bookmarks

I don’t quite agree with the solution. Question states: free trade agreement will benefit Country A's automobile industry as long as the industry remains competitive globally. Key word is globally, whereas B mentions that only the industry in Country A will innovate. Even if Country A innovates, does it make the global industry competititive? That's why I chose Answer A

miag

Verbal Forum Moderator

Joined: 10 Dec 2023

Last visit: 15 Feb 2026

Posts: 404

Own Kudos:

159

Given Kudos: 737

Location: India

Concentration: Marketing, Sustainability

Schools: Anderson '26 (A) Haas '26 (A) Kellogg '26 (A)

GMAT Focus 1: 675 Q87 V83 DI80 Verified score

GPA: 3.2/4

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

Schools: Anderson '26 (A) Haas '26 (A) Kellogg '26 (A)

GMAT Focus 1: 675 Q87 V83 DI80 Verified score

Posts: 404

Kudos: 159

21 Dec 2025, 23:20

Kudos

Bookmarks

Hi,
Globally describes Country A's auto industry's competitiveness in the world market, not the competitiveness of the global industry. The statements form a chain: if it innovates, it stays globally competitive; if it stays globally competitive, it benefits from the free trade agreement. Therefore, If it innovates, it will benefit , (B) follows from this statement.

Hope this helps!

AliEjaz01