The fire that destroyed the Municipal Building started before dawn thi

Question

The fire that destroyed the Municipal Building started before dawn this morning, and the last fire fighters did not leave until late this afternoon. No one could have been anywhere in the vicinity of a fire like that one and fail to notice it. Thomas must have seen it, whatever he now says to the contrary. He admits that, as usual, he went from his apartment to the library this morning, and there is no way for him to get from his apartment to the library without going past the Municipal Building.

The main conclusion of the argument is that

(A) Thomas was in the vicinity of the fire this morning
(B) Thomas claimed not to have seen the fire
(C) Thomas saw the fire this morning
(D) Thomas went directly from his apartment to the library this morning
(E) Thomas went by the Municipal Building this morning

aditya8062 · Answer

C it is :  Thomas saw the fire this morning

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

try to simplify the argument -

the second sentence states a condition -
Vicinity of a fire that large --> notice the fire.

the next sentence - 
he went from his apartment to library --> he has to go past the Municipal building --> he was in the vicinity of the fire.

If we combine the above two sentences we get -
he went from his apartment to library --> he has to go past the Municipal building --> he was in the vicinity of the fire --> notice the fire.

the last part is the conclusion. Hence, Option C. 
This is mentioned in the sentence - "Thomas must have seen it, whatever he now says to the contrary."

A - Incorrect.
Even though this statement is correct, note that we can combine this with the first statement to get a further conclusion. That conclusion would be the final/main conclusion of the argument.

B - Incorrect.
this statement, although correct, is not the main conclusion. Note that the paragraph says - "Thomas must have seen it, whatever he now says to the contrary."
"whatever" here indicates a contrast, so the author does not agree with Thomas. Hence, Thomas's claim cannot be the main conclusion.

D - Incorrect.
this is an assumption, not the main conclusion.
If he did not go directly to the library, but went somewhere else from his apartment and from that place went to the library, the argument falls apart. (He need not necessarily be in the vicinity of the fire then).

E - Incorrect.
same error as option A.

soodia · Answer

No one could have been anywhere in the vicinity of a fire like that one and fail to notice it. Thomas must have seen it,

it means : Thomas was in the vicinity of the fire this morning

what is wrong with A?

pkm9995 · Answer

I feel there is a catch. Fire started before the dawn in the morning .In the premise it is not stated that whether he went to the library before the fire started or not.it is just stated he went to the library in the morning(may be 12:01AM) . If he went to the library before the fire started he could not have seen the fire or it may be the other way also.I feel C is wrong

GMATNinja · Answer

Yes, this is technically possible, but since we are not asked about assumptions or ways to weaken the argument, this scenario is irrelevant. We are not looking for flaws in the author's argument. Rather, we are simply looking for the author's conclusion. According to the author's reasoning, Thomas saw the fire this morning, so the answer is (C).

As for choice (A), the author does reason that Thomas was in the vicinity of the fire this morning. But the author uses that reasoning to SUPPORT the main conclusion, which is that Thomas saw the fire. Thomas admits to walking past the Municipal Building but claims that he did not see the fire. The author concludes that Thomas DID see the fire. Whether Thomas was in the vicinity of the fire is not in question.

CEdward · Answer

I am wondering here if there is anything inherently different about "find the conclusion" questions on the GMAT versus LSAT, and frankly, any question type for that matter that shows up on both.

GMATNinja · Answer

Generally speaking, LSAT questions are a really, really good resource when you're studying for GMAT CR and RC. There are certainly some differences, but those are mostly cosmetic. For "find the conclusion" questions specifically, there is virtually no difference between LSAT and GMAT questions (except that LSAT passages are, on average, slightly more wordy and difficult).

For more about using LSAT questions for your GMAT studies, check out  this  article. You'll find some info about the differences between LAT and GMAT questions under "Reason #3."

I hope that helps!

krndatta · Answer

KarishmaB  Ma'am, 
What is wrong with option B? 
The passage mentions that .

So can't we conclude that Thomas must have seen the fire. 
Please share your two cents on options B and C.

KarishmaB · Answer

Option (B) is a fact given in the argument. The highlighted above tells us that he claims to have not seen it. 
But this is not the conclusion of the argument. The author did not write the argument to conclude that Thomas claims to have not seen the fire. He writes the argument to convince us that Thomas must have seen the fire. He gives all data to show why he must have seen it (He admits to have gone from apartment to library. There is no way to go without crossing the municipal building. The fire started before dawn and was extinguished by later afternoon. No one could have been in the vicinity and not noticed it.)

VerbalBot · Answer

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The fire that destroyed the Municipal Building started before dawn thi

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