General: The commander of the Air Force has recommended that we deploy

Question

General: The commander of the Air Force has recommended that we deploy the G28 aircraft in the reconnaissance mission, because the G28 can fly lower to the ground without being detected and could therefore retrieve the necessary information more efficiently than the currently stationed D12. But the D12 is already in the area and poised for takeoff, and would have just enough time to accomplish the mission if deployed immediately, while the G28 would require four days just to arrive in the area and get outfitted for the mission. Since the mission's deadline is immovable, I am forced to overrule the commander's recommendation and order the deployment of the D12.

Which of the following is assumed in the general's argument?

(A) The quality of information retrieved from the mission would be higher if the D12 were deployed than if the G28 were deployed.

(B) By the time the G28 arrived in the area and was outfitted for the mission, the D12 would have already completed the mission if deployed immediately.

(C) The ability of an aircraft to fly low to the ground is not a significant consideration when choosing aircraft for a reconnaissance mission.

(D) It would take longer for any aircraft not currently in the area besides the G28 to arrive in the area and get outfitted for the mission.

(E) Any time saved during the mission due to the operation of the more efficient G28 would not offset the additional time required to deploy the G28.

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AbhishekP220108 · Answer

Here is the situation the General is in:

He has a hard deadline. It cannot move.
 
  The D12 (The Tortoise):  It's already at the starting line. It's slow, but the General says it has "just enough time" to finish by the deadline. 
  The G28 (The Hare):  It's way faster and better at the job.  But , it’s going to show up 4 days late.

The General concludes:  "We HAVE to use the Tortoise (D12). The Hare (G28) won't work."

Now, why would he say that?

He is assuming that the Hare isn't  so  fast that it can overcome a 4-day head start.

Think about it this way: If the mission takes the Tortoise 10 days, it finishes on  Day 10 . Success. The Hare starts on  Day 4 . If the Hare is  super  efficient—let's say it can do the whole job in  1 day —it would finish on  Day 5 .

In that scenario, the General would be wrong! Even with the delay, the Hare finishes earlier. So, for the General to be right in rejecting the Hare, he has to be assuming that the Hare's speed  doesn't  make up for that 4-day delay.
 That is exactly what Option (E) says. 
 
 Let's try the "Negation Test" to prove it:  If we make Option (E) false, we are saying:  "Actually, the time saved by the G28  WOULD  totally offset the 4-day delay." 
If that were true—if the G28 is so fast that it makes the delay irrelevant—then the General is an idiot for using the slow D12. His whole argument falls apart. Since the argument dies when we negate (E),  (E) must be the assumption.

Quick note on why (B) is a trap:  A lot of people pick (B). It says the D12 would finish  before the G28 even arrives . That’s too extreme. Imagine the deadline is Day 20.
 
 D12 finishes Day 20. 
 G28 arrives Day 4 and takes 17 days to work. It finishes Day 21. The General is right to pick D12 (because G28 missed the deadline). But did D12 finish  before G28 arrived ? No. D12 was still working on Day 4. So (B) doesn't  have  to be true for the General to be right.

Why the others are incorrect
 
  (A) Quality of information:  The argument is purely about  Time/Deadlines , not quality. Even if D12 takes terrible photos, if it's the only one that meets the deadline, the General's logic holds. 
  (C) Low flying consideration:  The General admits low flying is good ("more efficiently"). He rejects the G28 based on  logistics  (time), not by denying the value of its features. 
  (D) Other aircraft:  The argument is a binary choice: D12 vs. G28. Hypothetical third aircraft are irrelevant.

aditya1818 · Answer

(A) The quality of information retrieved from the mission would be higher if the D12 were deployed than if the G28 were deployed.-  Incorrect: Not at all, this seems to go in fact opposite to our premise.

(B) By the time the G28 arrived in the area and was outfitted for the mission, the D12 would have already completed the mission if deployed immediately.-  Incorrect: In the argument, D12 has been preferred over G28 because of the time frame for the start of execution of the mission. Negate it and still the conclusion holds.

(C) The ability of an aircraft to fly low to the ground is not a significant consideration when choosing aircraft for a reconnaissance mission.-  Correct: Negate it. If ability of an aircraft to fly low is of greater significance then G28 should be preferred more for the mission.

(D) It would take longer for any aircraft not currently in the area besides the G28 to arrive in the area and get outfitted for the mission.- Incorrect: Even if it takes longer less time for other aircraft, the comparison is between D12 and G28 and the conclusion of the argument remains intact. 
 
(E) Any time saved during the mission due to the operation of the more efficient G28 would not offset the additional time required to deploy the G28.-  Correct: Negate it and the arguments falls apart.

Lets now compare (C) and (E)- I went back to the argument and saw that G28 retrieves the necessary information more efficiently than D12 and thus which aircraft fly low to the ground more significantly is not mentioned. Option (C) is out. Option (E) is the winner. Careful reading is very important.

laborumplaceat · Answer

A: This is opposite to what passage says
B: we cannot say this for sure
C: The passage does not say so - it gives a scenario where they are forced to choose an aircraft which does not fly low to ground - and not that it is not a significant consideration.
D: Out of scope - not talking about aircraft other than G28 and G12(which is already there)
E: Correct (this is required)

Dereno · Answer

The question voices out the opinion of the general, and his supporting view points why he choose a particular position.

The commander has advised that G28 be deployed for the Recon mission, as it can stay undetected and travel close to ground level. These features are crucial for this mission as it can retrieve information more effectively than another flight D12.

Apart from the pros of G28, the only drawback is the time to reach the mission site ( 4 days), then additional time to execute the mission. While the D12 can complete the mission before deadline, provided its deployed immediately. So, the general feels that deploying D12 would save time as the clock is ticking, and plans to override the suggestion of the commander.

We need to find the assumption that was made by the general in arriving to that decision.

In assumptions there are two crucial aspects to be considered :

Firstly, Negate the answer choice to check if it’s correct.

Secondly, the answer choice should contain an information which is not stated in the question.

(A) The quality of information retrieved from the mission would be higher if the D12 were deployed than if the G28 were deployed.

This is in contradiction to the view of the question. There is an explicit mentioning of G28 can retrieve information more effectively than D12. Hence, Wrong.

(B) By the time the G28 arrived in the area and was outfitted for the mission, the D12 would have already completed the mission if deployed immediately.

This is not mentioned in the question stem. “  would have enough time to accomplish the mission, if deployed immediately  “. This mentions D12 would have completed the mission, but G28 takes 4 days to arrive. But, duration of the mission is unknown. Hence, wrong. Even though the option seems tempting, negating it won’t support the argument. Thus Wrong.

(C) The ability of an aircraft to fly low to the ground is not a significant consideration when choosing aircraft for a reconnaissance mission.

One of the parameters for choosing G28 over D12 is the ability to stay low and remain undetected - stealth mode. Contrary to the fact in question. Wrong.

(D) It would take longer for any aircraft not currently in the area besides the G28 to arrive in the area and get outfitted for the mission.

The bone of contention is between two flights G28 and D12. Bringing extra players for the task seems irrelevant to the question at hand. Hence, Wrong.

(E) Any time saved during the mission due to the operation of the more efficient G28 would not offset the additional time required to deploy the G28.

The time taken to arrive the mission site + deployment time for G28 would not hamper the missions success. So, this makes G28 the choice.

If we negate it, the overall time taken for arrival and deployment of G28 will be greater that we might be left with meagre time or no time to execute the mission. Hence, D12 becomes the choice.

So, we get a Yes and No. Correct answer.

Option E

Pratyaksh1907 · Answer

General's decision is strictly based on the time saving. D12 can save time if deployed immediately which C28 cannot A - Quality of information doesn't matter B - Restating the premise, an assumption is an unstated premise. C - No, the author never questioned the lower flying ability mentioned in the first sentence. D - Other aircraft are none of our concern E - Yes, say, time saved by G28 is 4 hours and additional time required to deploy is 10 hours. So, even if G28 is better in terms of time management in the operation, it will still take it 6 extra hours because it isnot in the position and will take time to deploy. Therefore, in this way, we have double-verified why E is right. Hope it helps

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

Next up we have "Critical Reasoning meets Top Gun." The general is trying to determine which of two types of aircraft would better fit the needs of the Air Force for an upcoming mission, and there are a number of logical elements present here. While the commander of the Air Force prefers the G28 because it could perform the necessary task more efficiently, the general orders that the D12 be used instead. He provides one piece of evidence to support this decision: Only the D12 can perform the task in time to meet the mission's deadline. When an author argues for one option over another, the author must assume that the benefit provided by the preferred option can only be found in that option. In other words, the author must assume that the G28 would not fulfill the mission in the allotted period of time. But perhaps there's an alternative? The general says that it would take four days for the G28 to be ready for the mission, but he never explicitly says that the G28 couldn't meet the deadline. Perhaps the plane's greater efficiency would enable it to still complete the mission in the allotted period of time, despite the later start. That's a plausible alternative that the general has overlooked. In order for the general's conclusion to be valid, he must assume that the G28 could not perform the mission by the immovable deadline. Thus he assumes that the G28's efficiency would not recoup the extra time that it would take for the G28 to begin the mission.   (E) is the answer.

The number issue is a common one: The test makers like to create situations in which a decrease in one area is made up, in fact, even surpassed, by an increase in something else. And one could see this scenario in terms of a scope shift, as well: The general speaks of the efficiency of the G28 early on, but then makes his recommendation based solely on the time factor. Recognizing that shift is key to understanding the assumption here.

An 800 test taker has the ability to see situations in Critical Reasoning questions from a number of angles, and to think through problems on a number of different levels. The more tools in your test-day arsenal, the better.

(A) The stimulus never states that one aircraft retrieves higher quality information than the other; one is simply more efficient. So (A) is not relevant to the general's decision.

(B) goes too far. The author never states how long the mission would take, so there's no basis for assuming that the D12 would be done before the G28 arrived.

(C) The ability to fly low to the ground is a significant consideration to the commander, and the general never contests the importance of this consideration. He just overrides it by making the deadline a more significant consideration, so he need not assume (C) in order to formulate his recommendation.

(D) focuses on aircraft other than the G28. Aren't two enough to deal with? The author seems to think so, because he discusses only the D12 and the G28. How long it would take other kinds of planes to get to the scene is irrelevant to the general's argument, which specifically deals with a choice between these two.

General: The commander of the Air Force has recommended that we deploy

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

General: The commander of the Air Force has recommended that we deploy

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