Societies in which value is measured primarily in financial terms inva

Question

Competition Mode Question

Societies in which value is measured primarily in financial terms invariably fragment into isolated social units. But since money is not the main measure of value in nonindustrial societies, they must tend in contrast to be socially unified.

The flawed reasoning in which one of the following is most similar to that in the argument above?

(A) Animals of different genera cannot interbreed. But that does not prove that jackals and wolves cannot interbreed, for they belong to the same genus.

(B) Ecosystems close to the equator usually have more species than those closer to the poles. Thus, the Sahara Desert must contain more species than Siberia does, since the latter is farther from the equator.

(C) Insects pass through several stages of maturation: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Since insect are arthropods, all arthropods probably undergo similar maturation processes.

(D) Poets frequently convey their thoughts via nonliteral uses of language such as metaphors and analogies. But journalists are not poets, so surely journalists always use language literally.

(E) Technologically sophisticated machines often cause us more trouble than simpler devices serving the same function. Since computers are more technologically sophisticated than pencils, they must tend to be more troublesome.

exc4libur · Answer

argument
=soc and money are isolated
=non-soc and non-money are unified

similar flaw
(A) irev
(B) ecos distant from equator have less species: ecos in sahara (closest) x siberia have more species; fine.
(C) insect undergo stages: anthro=insects undergo same stages; fine.
(E) tec x simple causes more trouble: pc=tec x penc=simple causes more trouble; fine.

Ans (D) poets are non-literal, non-poets are literal.

nitin942 · Answer

Suppose X = Societies in which value is measured primarily in financial terms, Y = fragmentation into isolated social units
Structure of argument is : 
X => Y (X implies Y)
Z is not X
So Z => Not Y

Among all options, D is the only one that follows the above logic.

oldmonkforever · Answer

Bunuel pls advise how to solve such questions.......

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Let us analyze the stimulus for the line of reasoning which is presented.

Societies in which value is measured primarily in financial terms (X) --> invariably fragment into isolated social units (Y).
Money is not the main measure of value in nonindustrial societies (not X) --> they must tend in contrast to be socially unified (not Y).

This is a pretty simple flawed reasoning that is commonly encountered on the GMAT. We know for a fact that:

if x --> Y, then we cannot say anything about the situation where X does not occur. We can be sure that (not Y) --> (not X).

Let us analyze the options given by similarly breaking down the argument into cause (X) and effect (Y).

(A) Animals of different genera  (X)  cannot interbreed  (not Y) . But that does not prove that jackals and wolves cannot interbreed  (maybe Y) , for they belong to the same genus  (not X) .  Not the same structure as the stimulus. Eliminate.

(B) Ecosystems close to the equator  (X)  usually have more species  (Y)  than those closer to the poles. Thus, the Sahara Desert must contain more species  (Y)  than Siberia does, since the latter is farther from the equator  (X) .  Not the same structure as the stimulus. Eliminate.

(C) Insects  (X)  pass through several stages of maturation  (Y) : egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Since insect are arthropods, all arthropods  (superset of X)  probably undergo similar maturation processes  (Y) .  Not the same structure as the stimulus. Eliminate.

(D) Poets  (X)  frequently convey their thoughts via nonliteral uses of language  (Y)  such as metaphors and analogies. But journalists are not poets  (not X) , so surely journalists always use language literally  (not Y) .  This is exactly the same structure as that presented in the stimulus and hence is the correct answer.

(E) Technologically sophisticated machines  (X)  often cause us more trouble  (Y)  than simpler devices serving the same function. Since computers are more technologically sophisticated  (X)  than pencils, they must tend to be more troublesome  (Y) .  Not the same structure as the stimulus. Eliminate.

Hope this helps.

oldmonkforever · Answer

Bunuel  
 GMATNinja 
pls assist

Bunuel · Answer

Have you checked the solutions already provided above? Do you have any specific question?

VerbalBot · Answer

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Societies in which value is measured primarily in financial terms inva

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Societies in which value is measured primarily in financial terms inva

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