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Bunuel
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At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings 25 Jun 2019, 04:24
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87% (01:31) correct 13% (01:49) wrong based on 607 sessions

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At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings of his business to the bank. A week ago, when Mr. Red arrived at the bank, he noticed that the bag had been replaced by another similar bag, but one without any earnings in it. Mr. Red accused Mr. Green, a competitor, of the robbery. However, on that specific day Mr. Green claims to have been playing golf on a course far from Mr. Red's offices. Therefore, Mr. Green cannot be guilty of stealing the earnings.

Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate the argument?

(A) Whether the amount of money in Mr. Green's bank account is larger than the amount stolen
(B) Whether it was the first time Mr. Green had played at that particular golf course
(C) Whether the replacement bag had been bought at the same shop that Mr. Red had bought the original bag from
(D) Whether the events mentioned by Mr. Green can be confirmed by an observer who is objective
(E) Whether an employee of Mr. Red's business can verify the fact that Mr. Red indeed went to the bank that day
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D
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At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings 25 Jun 2019, 11:13
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D establishes the validity of a claim made by Mr Green and hence, provides basis for further evaluation.
Mr Green having more money than Mr Red (A), Mr Green playing golf first time at a particular golf course (B), the make of replacement bag (C) are not relevant to the case. Moreover, it's been given as premise that Mr Red goes to the bank everyday. Also, only when he went to the bank, he had noticed the bag which had gotten replaced. Hence, (E) is also not helpful to solve the situation.

Hence, D should be the correct answer choice.

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At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings 10 Apr 2020, 05:03
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Hi could you please explain the evaluation process?
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At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings 12 Apr 2020, 15:18
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Farina
Hi could you please explain the evaluation process?
Show more
We cross paths again, Farina. I thought this was a fun question. Reservoir Dogs, anyone? As I like to do with CR questions anytime there is a question attached, I start by processing the question itself so that I know how to interpret the passage as I go.

Bunuel
Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate the argument?
Show more
Okay, so here, we are going to be presented an argument, and our goal is not to strengthen or weaken it, but to find a way to evaluate it. Thus, we need to pay particular attention to any premises on which the argument may be based. What does the passage have in store?

Bunuel
At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings of his business to the bank. A week ago, when Mr. Red arrived at the bank, he noticed that the bag had been replaced by another similar bag, but one without any earnings in it. Mr. Red accused Mr. Green, a competitor, of the robbery. However, on that specific day Mr. Green claims to have been playing golf on a course far from Mr. Red's offices. Therefore, Mr. Green cannot be guilty of stealing the earnings.
Show more

Sentence 1 provides typical background information. Someone takes money to the bank on a daily basis.

Sentence 2 goes into detail: 1) We are backing up a week; 2) the usual money bag had been replaced one day by another similar bag; and 3) the bag was empty.

Sentence 3 provides some drama. A competitor is accused of the robbery.

Sentence 4 provides a counter. That day, the competitor claims to have been playing golf on a course far away.

Sentence 5 gives us our conclusion, which seems a little rash. Apparently, the competitor cannot be guilty of the crime.

Of course, I can see plenty of logical problems with the reasoning--it is not as if Mr. Green could not have hired someone to commit the crime on his behalf, for one--but again, we are not tasked with weakening the argument. Instead, we need to evaluate it. Picture being a cop on this case. What would you find relevant to ask in order to get to the bottom of the matter? On to our answers.

Bunuel
(A) Whether the amount of money in Mr. Green's bank account is larger than the amount stolen
Show more
Analysis: If Mr. Green had been foolish enough to deposit the exact amount into his own account that Mr. Red and his business records showed for that day, then that might be suspicious, but Mr. Green could very well be wealthy (or poor, since we do not know how much was allegedly stolen) independent of the theft. Whether we answer this question with a yes or no, it does not lead us anywhere. Red herring.

Bunuel
(B) Whether it was the first time Mr. Green had played at that particular golf course
Show more
Analysis: The thinking might go that if Mr. Green had never played at the golf course up to that point, then he might have chosen it as a convenient alibi, but then the golf course does not really matter, does it? It could just as easily have been a mall trip or a circus stop off. This does not pass a basic So what? test. Would it make a difference to you if Mr. Green had played the course before? Would that mean he had not robbed Mr. Red? Whenever you find yourself having to fill in the blanks to make the pieces fit together, you are most likely going down the wrong path. Keep going.

Bunuel
(C) Whether the replacement bag had been bought at the same shop that Mr. Red had bought the original bag from
Show more
Analysis: Again, what difference does this make, one way or the other? The same shop? Really? Is there no other way to obtain such a bag? If Mr. Red is that worried about bags, he ought to just use a custom bag or, better yet, hire some security to make his deliveries. Once more, the logical gap is more than a step removed if we want to qualify this answer. For all we know, Mr. Red had bought bags from a regular retailer, the same kind that anyone else could purchase at that location. All that proving this information would show was that Mr. Red had an accurate memory--or not--about the similarity of his regular bag and the replacement bag.

Bunuel
(D) Whether the events mentioned by Mr. Green can be confirmed by an observer who is objective
Show more
Analysis: If a disinterested third party corroborated the whereabouts of Mr. Green on that day, then at least that part would fit; if not, then Mr. Green would look more suspicious, or at least he would have some explaining to do to account for any discrepancies. Thus, this information is relevant to evaluating the claim made by Mr. Green, the very claim that leads to the conclusion at the end of the passage.

Bunuel
(E) Whether an employee of Mr. Red's business can verify the fact that Mr. Red indeed went to the bank that day
Show more
Analysis: This can look good at first glance, but there are two issues that prove problematic with a closer look. First, the passage tells us that Mr. Red makes daily bank runs. If we cannot trust that information, then we need to question all the information in the passage. Second, why would it necessarily have to be an employee of Mr. Red's business, as opposed to, say, a banker or security guard who had been on duty at the bank that day who needed to back up the account given by Mr. Red? Sometimes specificity works against an answer choice, and such is the case with this one.

By the process of elimination, (D) must be our answer. It is a no-bells-and-whistles answer, but one that is in keeping with the information presented in the passage, and it is the only one that presents relevant information within the context of the question being asked.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to post them. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings Updated on: 14 Apr 2020, 10:51
Originally posted by Farina on 13 Apr 2020, 11:39.
Last edited by Farina on 14 Apr 2020, 10:51, edited 1 time in total.
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Farina
Hi could you please explain the evaluation process?
We cross paths again, Farina. I thought this was a fun question. Reservoir Dogs, anyone? As I like to do with CR questions anytime there is a question attached, I start by processing the question itself so that I know how to interpret the passage as I go.

Bunuel
Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate the argument?
Okay, so here, we are going to be presented an argument, and our goal is not to strengthen or weaken it, but to find a way to evaluate it. Thus, we need to pay particular attention to any premises on which the argument may be based. What does the passage have in store?

Bunuel
At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings of his business to the bank. A week ago, when Mr. Red arrived at the bank, he noticed that the bag had been replaced by another similar bag, but one without any earnings in it. Mr. Red accused Mr. Green, a competitor, of the robbery. However, on that specific day Mr. Green claims to have been playing golf on a course far from Mr. Red's offices. Therefore, Mr. Green cannot be guilty of stealing the earnings.

Sentence 1 provides typical background information. Someone takes money to the bank on a daily basis.

Sentence 2 goes into detail: 1) We are backing up a week; 2) the usual money bag had been replaced one day by another similar bag; and 3) the bag was empty.

Sentence 3 provides some drama. A competitor is accused of the robbery.

Sentence 4 provides a counter. That day, the competitor claims to have been playing golf on a course far away.

Sentence 5 gives us our conclusion, which seems a little rash. Apparently, the competitor cannot be guilty of the crime.

Of course, I can see plenty of logical problems with the reasoning--it is not as if Mr. Green could not have hired someone to commit the crime on his behalf, for one--but again, we are not tasked with weakening the argument. Instead, we need to evaluate it. Picture being a cop on this case. What would you find relevant to ask in order to get to the bottom of the matter? On to our answers.

Bunuel
(A) Whether the amount of money in Mr. Green's bank account is larger than the amount stolen
Analysis: If Mr. Green had been foolish enough to deposit the exact amount into his own account that Mr. Red and his business records showed for that day, then that might be suspicious, but Mr. Green could very well be wealthy (or poor, since we do not know how much was allegedly stolen) independent of the theft. Whether we answer this question with a yes or no, it does not lead us anywhere. Red herring.

Bunuel
(B) Whether it was the first time Mr. Green had played at that particular golf course
Analysis: The thinking might go that if Mr. Green had never played at the golf course up to that point, then he might have chosen it as a convenient alibi, but then the golf course does not really matter, does it? It could just as easily have been a mall trip or a circus stop off. This does not pass a basic So what? test. Would it make a difference to you if Mr. Green had played the course before? Would that mean he had not robbed Mr. Red? Whenever you find yourself having to fill in the blanks to make the pieces fit together, you are most likely going down the wrong path. Keep going.

Bunuel
(C) Whether the replacement bag had been bought at the same shop that Mr. Red had bought the original bag from
Analysis: Again, what difference does this make, one way or the other? The same shop? Really? Is there no other way to obtain such a bag? If Mr. Red is that worried about bags, he ought to just use a custom bag or, better yet, hire some security to make his deliveries. Once more, the logical gap is more than a step removed if we want to qualify this answer. For all we know, Mr. Red had bought bags from a regular retailer, the same kind that anyone else could purchase at that location. All that proving this information would show was that Mr. Red had an accurate memory--or not--about the similarity of his regular bag and the replacement bag.

Bunuel
(D) Whether the events mentioned by Mr. Green can be confirmed by an observer who is objective
Analysis: If a disinterested third party corroborated the whereabouts of Mr. Green on that day, then at least that part would fit; if not, then Mr. Green would look more suspicious, or at least he would have some explaining to do to account for any discrepancies. Thus, this information is relevant to evaluating the claim made by Mr. Green, the very claim that leads to the conclusion at the end of the passage.

Bunuel
(E) Whether an employee of Mr. Red's business can verify the fact that Mr. Red indeed went to the bank that day
Analysis: This can look good at first glance, but there are two issues that prove problematic with a closer look. First, the passage tells us that Mr. Red makes daily bank runs. If we cannot trust that information, then we need to question all the information in the passage. Second, why would it necessarily have to be an employee of Mr. Red's business, as opposed to, say, a banker or security guard who had been on duty at the bank that day who needed to back up the account given by Mr. Red? Sometimes specificity works against an answer choice, and such is the case with this one.

By the process of elimination, (D) must be our answer. It is a no-bells-and-whistles answer, but one that is in keeping with the information presented in the passage, and it is the only one that presents relevant information within the context of the question being asked.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to post them. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Hey Andrew thank you very much for taking out time and explaining the CR passage in detail. I felt like I was reading a mystery book. It was easy to understand. Thanks again
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At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings 13 Apr 2020, 13:53
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Farina

Hey Andrew thank you very much for taking out time and explaining the CR passage in detail. I felt like I was reading a mysterious book. It was easy to understand. Thanks again
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Glad to hear it, Farina. I can relate to the mystery part. Sometimes I read a passage, more typically an economics passage in RC, and just pause for a moment to let the words sink in. Do not be afraid to stop after reading a sentence to process what the passage says. This is why I like to write a sentence-by-sentence breakdown in my CR summaries before I tackle the questions, mimicking my mental processes as I encounter such information. A little methodical reading can actually help you get faster with practice, and it can certainly help with accuracy. Give it a go the next time you feel stuck.

- Andrew
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At the end of each day, Mr. Red takes a bag holding the daily earnings 02 Nov 2023, 01:01
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