A leading board member of AutoSnip Co., makers of an automated home ha

Question

A leading board member of AutoSnip Co., makers of an automated home haircutting system, recently stated that the company was in terrible shape and headed for a disastrous year. His concern was that, since the introduction of the AutoSnip III last year,  calls to the customer service line have nearly doubled , indicating that people are very unhappy with the new product. Although it's true that it is the job of responsible board members to raise issues of concern, in this case the board member's analysis of the situation is mistaken. The customer service line handles not only complaints but also sales, and  the majority of the new calls have been to place new orders.

What role do the two boldfaced selections play in the above argument?

(A) The first provides evidence supporting the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence supporting a conclusion that the argument opposes.

(B) The first provides evidence, an interpretation of which supports the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence supporting the main conclusion of the argument.

(C) The first provides incontrovertible evidence opposing the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence supporting the main conclusion of the argument.

(D) The first provides evidence supporting the main conclusion of the argument; the second states that main conclusion.

(E) The first provides evidence, an interpretation of which opposes the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides that interpretation.

amit2k9 · Answer

Went for C and E instead.

Picked up C as the first statement is an evidence opposing the main conclusion. Here is where I made the mistake.
2nd statement is essentially an evidence supporting the main conclusion.

time 55 sec.

garimavyas · Answer

that is how it feels under acute time pressure . the easiest questions are wrongly answered

fluke · Answer

What is the main conclusion here?
This one is perhaps the closest to a conclusion: "the board member's analysis of the situation is mistaken".

"C" makes more sense in my opinion.
The first provides evidence that is an opposition of this conclusion.
The second provides an evidence how the conclusion holds true; supporting.

subhashghosh · Answer

I picked B in 15 sec.

garimavyas · Answer

@subhashghosh i thought you picked B in -15 seconds

gmat1220 · Answer

Are you sure the answer is B? Did you miss the main conclusion ?
main conclusion - "board member's analysis of the situation is mistaken"

First boldface - evidence in support of the claim "people are very unhappy with the new product"
Second boldface - evidence in support of the main conclusion "board member's analysis of the situation is mistaken"

Moreover this CR was re-written. See the OG question - #64 in OG12. The answer is C. And C should be the answer in this one.

Here is my analysis -

A - is wrong since the second boldface is NOT the conclusion. The conclusion is boad members are wrong
B - is wrong since the first boldface will NOT support the main conclusion. It will support its own claim which is 180 deg to the main conclusion. First boldface will support the claim "people are very unhappy with the new product"
D - The first boldface is NOT supporting the main conclusion

So the answer should be C or E

OptimusPrimea1 · Answer

@gmat1220..In agreement with you..I picked C too..What is the final OA guys?

amitbharadwaj7 · Answer

I want to reopen the discussion on this topic. I found this question in Grockit and official answer is B. But I am not convinced with the solution in Grockit. According to me the conclusion is "in this case the board member's analysis of the situation is mistaken." because the last bold statement in no way states that "the company was in terrible shape".

According to me, answer should be C.

I request Experts to explain.

According to me, answer should be C.

I request Experts to explain.

vishalrastogi · Answer

Boldface 1: calls to the customer service line have nearly doubled.

Boldface 2 : the majority of the new calls have been to place new orders.

Conclusion : in this case the board member's analysis of the situation is mistaken.

Now, boldface 1 does not directly support the conclusion, its interpretation supports the conclusion. Boldface 2 gives clear evidence why conclusion is right !
Hence B.

C, on the other hand, says that Boldface 2 opposes the main conclusion, which is wrong and so this option is incorrect !

Hope it helps.

vishalrastogi · Answer

A small typo error. C , incorrectly says that boldface 1 opposes main conclusion, which is wrong !

sayansarkar · Answer

as stated in E...the second part is not the interpretation that is supported by first bold face

kzivrev · Answer

This is how I worked on this problem,
I think that the main conclusion is the 1st sentence of argument “recently stated that the company was in terrible shape and headed for a disastrous year.” Saying this cuz this is someone’s opinion, and concluded that the firm is in bad shape.

Now, why he concluded that, cuz this “His concern was that, since the introduction of the AutoSnip III last year,  calls to the customer service line have nearly doubled, indicating that people are very unhappy with the new product.” So the bold part is here, supporting the main conclusion.

So, “The customer service line handles not only complaints but also sales, and the majority of the new calls have been to place new orders.” Saying that slas are growing. Bold here is a counter premise, directly opposing the main conclusion which is on the other side.

Hence, I think correct should be A. The first provides evidence supporting the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence supporting a conclusion( that company is doing good) that the argument opposes ( that is not doing good).
I don’t go for B since my understanding says that the boldfaces are opposing to eachoter, and B is having both on the same side.

I kindly ask for any opinions here, Thanks

SonaliT · Answer

Some expert should take up this question....................... :?:

Argo · Answer

Just consider the bold face statements i.e. 
 
 calls to the customer service line have nearly doubled 
 the majority of the new calls have been to place new orders.

Considering the above two statements, we can conclude that calls to the customer service have increased and majority of them are for placing the order. And also, main conclusion says that Board member's analysis about the 'situation of the company' is mistaken.

Hence, both the bold face statements are in favor of the conclusion. Look for such option, we can narrow down to B and E. Now problem with E is, second bold face statement is not a conclusion but just an evidence to the main conclusion.

Hence B.

casperatwork · Answer

A leading board member of AutoSnip Co., makers of an automated home haircutting system, recently stated that the company was in terrible shape and headed for a disastrous year. His concern was that, since the introduction of the AutoSnip III last year, calls to the customer service line have nearly doubled, indicating that people are very unhappy with the new product. Although it's true that it is the job of responsible board members to raise issues of concern, in this case the board member's analysis of the situation is mistaken. The customer service line handles not only complaints but also sales, and the majority of the new calls have been to place new orders.

What role do the two boldfaced selections play in the above argument?

A.The first provides evidence supporting the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence supporting a conclusion that the argument opposes.
B. The first provides evidence, an interpretation of which supports the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence supporting the main conclusion of the argument.
C. The first provides incontrovertible evidence opposing the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence supporting the main conclusion of the argument.
D. The first provides evidence supporting the main conclusion of the argument; the second states that main conclusion.
E. The first provides evidence, an interpretation of which opposes the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides that interpretation.

How is B the correct answer?

If the main conclusion is 'The Board Member's analysis is mistaken' then how is 'first bold face' supporting the conclusion?

sayantanc2k · Answer

Option B does NOT state that the first bold face part supports conclusion. It states that  one interpretation of the first bold face part  supports the argument: the interpretation is in fact the second bold face part - c alls to the customer service line have nearly doubled  can be interpreted as there are many sales calls to place order.

warriorguy · Answer

Second bold face is neither the main conclusion of the argument nor does it oppose the main conclusion.

D is out and so is A.

The first part is a consideration which the author does not oppose rather provides a justification about the same. For this reason, C and E are out.

B

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.

A leading board member of AutoSnip Co., makers of an automated home ha

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

A leading board member of AutoSnip Co., makers of an automated home ha

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards