Executive: Many critics argue that my company, Acme Widget Manufacturi

Question

Executive: Many critics argue that my company, Acme Widget Manufacturing Co., is a large polluter in this town, because we dump chemical by-products onto the land that surrounds our manufacturing plant. But these critics have never been to our plant, so how can they make an informed opinion as to the amount of waste we may be dumping? These critics are clearly wrong, because our plant has spent more money per acre in the past four years on government-mandated cleanup procedures than any other plant in the state.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the reasoning in the executive's argument?

(A) In the executive's state, spending on chemical cleanup procedures has been increasing more slowly over the past four years than it has in several other states.

(B) The condition of the environment surrounding a manufacturing plant is generally of less importance to a corporation that owns the plant than is the amount of money they must spend on government-mandated procedures.

(C) Over the past four years, numerous manufacturing plants in the executive's state have relocated to other states, and there have been about as many that have relocated to the executive's state.

(D) In general, the amount of land a corporation must clean is determined by the size of the corporation.

(E) Only companies that have caused serious harm to their surrounding environment need to spend a large amount of money to clean up that environment.

NarendraM · Answer

E. If the clean was due to its pollution, then he can't use the clean up as an evidence to say theres no pollution.

Posted from my mobile device

nivi2084 · Answer

(B) The condition of the environment surrounding a manufacturing plant is generally of less importance to a corporation that owns the plant than is the amount of money they must spend on government-mandated procedures.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The correct answer here is  E . This is a  weaken the conclusion  question, so we must first identify the conclusion that we are trying to weaken. In this case, it is that  Acme is not a polluter because the spend a lot on cleanup procedures . We have to find something that suggests that Acme is indeed a polluter.

A  - This is irrelevant as it tells us nothing about how to measure pollution.  OUT

B  - If this statement is true, it actually helps Acme's argument instead of hurting it.  OUT

C  - Another useless piece of info. The problem with such information is how incomplete it is. We know nothing about the pollution from these other manufacturing plants.  OUT

D  - If this is true, the only thing it tells us is that Acme is a very big corporation. Once again, no new info about pollution.  OUT

E  - Must be correct by elimination. However, we also see that it makes a clear link between cleanup and pollution, saying that the companies that do a lot of cleanup are actually the worst polluters in the first place. This weakens the argument that Acme is not a polluter and hence is  CORRECT .

Remember that it is important to have bulls-eye focus on the conclusion itself, or else you will be led down the wrong path even on relatively easy questions such as this one.

- Matoo

Bombsante · Answer

Hi, I will try my bit on this:
Always try to understand what the author of the passage wants the reader to believe. GMAC mostly tries to confuse the test takers by presenting complex and convoluted statements in the passages as well as the answer choices to muddle one's reasoning.
The author of this passage wants the reader to believe that the manufacturing company is not a LARGE polluter or the critics are wrong in saying that XYZ company is a LARGE polluter (always notice certain adjectives in CR passages which may prove pivotal in eliminating wrong answer choices).
How the author tries to do this is by presenting facts and statements provided by an employee of the company. One of the facts presented by the employee is "because our plant has spent more money per acre in the past four years on government-mandated cleanup procedures than any other plant in the state".
We have been asked to weaken the conclusion. Analyzing the answer choices one by one: 
 
(A) In the executive's state, spending on chemical cleanup procedures has been increasing more slowly over the past four years than it has in several other states.

Irrelevant since this choice is not able to prove that XYZ manufacturer is indeed a LARGE polluter. In fact it states that spending in home state on clean up is increasing slower than that in other states.

(B) The condition of the environment surrounding a manufacturing plant is generally of less importance to a corporation that owns the plant than is the amount of money they must spend on government-mandated procedures.

This statement strengthens the argument by providing evidence that manufacturers are more concerned about the spending than about the actual cleanup.

(C) Over the past four years, numerous manufacturing plants in the executive's state have relocated to other states, and there have been about as many that have relocated to the executive's state.

No connection with the conclusion of the passage. Irrelevant.

(D) In general, the amount of land a corporation must clean is determined by the size of the corporation.

In this choice probably size is mentioned to confuse test takers who in pressure of time may get swayed since the corporation in question is mentioned as LARGE. It only presents a general piece of information related to the companies. Eliminate.

(E) Only companies that have caused serious harm to their surrounding environment need to spend a large amount of money to clean up that environment.

Now this statement also presents a general piece of information however it can be applied specifically to the context of this passage as the employee mentions in the passage that their plant has spent more money per acre in the past four years on government-mandated cleanup procedures than any other plant in the state. In the light of this statement being true, option E becomes the correct answer since it states that only those companies have to spend more money on cleaning which cause serious harm to their surrounding environment.
Here the employee is already stating that his / her company is spending more money on clean up than any other. Therefore, option E weakens the conclusion.

Hope the explanation is of some help to others.

singhaz · Answer

Executive: Many critics argue that my company,  Acme Widget Manufacturing Co., is a large polluter in this town , because we dump chemical by-products onto the land that surrounds our manufacturing plant. But these critics have never been to our plant, so how can they make an informed opinion as to the amount of waste we may be dumping?  These critics are clearly wrong, because our plant has spent more money per acre in the past four years on government-mandated cleanup procedures than any other plant in the state.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously  undermines the reasoning in the executive's argument?

(A) In the executive's state, spending on chemical cleanup procedures has been increasing more slowly over the past four years than it has in several other states.

(B) The condition of the environment surrounding a manufacturing plant is generally of less importance to a corporation that owns the plant than is the amount of money they must spend on government-mandated procedures.

(C) Over the past four years, numerous manufacturing plants in the executive's state have relocated to other states, and there have been about as many that have relocated to the executive's state.

(D) In general, the amount of land a corporation must clean is determined by the size of the corporation.

(E) Only companies that have caused serious harm to their surrounding environment need to spend a large amount of money to clean up that environment.

Executive: Many critics argue that my company, Acme Widget Manufacturi

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

Executive: Many critics argue that my company, Acme Widget Manufacturi

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