Committee member: Last week, committee members were encouraged to

Question

Committee member: Last week, committee members were encouraged to nominate candidates for the position of committee chairperson. So far, seven members have submitted nominations. That means we can expect contentious lead-up to the election. After all, such contention always occurs before an election whenever there are more than three candidates for any elected position.

Which of the following would be most useful to know in order to evaluate the likelihood of the committee member’s prediction?

(A) Whether any of the nominated members are known for arguing frequently with other members

(B) Whether a candidate can be nominated by more than one committee member

(C) Whether any more nominations for chairperson will be made

(D) Whether members were allowed to nominate themselves for chairperson

(E) Whether there has ever been contention before an election with only two candidates

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ankushsambare · Answer

Conclusion: 
There will be a contentious lead-up to the election.
 Premises: 
 
 7 members have submitted nominations. 
 Whenever there are more than 3 candidates, there is always contention before the election.  
 Pre-thinking: 
The argument assumes that 7 nominations means there are more than 3 candidates.
But maybe many members nominated the same person. Then there may be fewer than 4 candidates, and the rule may not apply.
Need to know whether nominations equal actual candidates.
 Eliminate choices: 
(A) Whether nominees argue often
 
 Not relevant because the argument is based on number of candidates.  
(B) Whether a candidate can be nominated by more than one member
 
 If yes, 7 nominations may not mean 7 candidates. This affects the prediction. ✅  
(C) Whether more nominations will be made
 
 Does not help determine current number of candidates.  
(D) Whether members can nominate themselves
 
 Does not affect the number of candidates.  
(E) Whether contention happened with only two candidates
 
 The rule is about more than three candidates.  
 Answer: (B)

vasu1104 · Answer

conclusion = we can expect contentious lead-up to election.

reason- so far seven members have submitted nominations.
and whenever there are more than 3 candidates for any elected position, contention always occurs.

so argument jumps from having seven members submitting nominations to having contentions occurring when there are more than 3 candidates nominated.
that means member is assuming all these 7 people must have nominated 3 different people. 
but what if they all nominated same person or there are only 2 people nominated?

then the conclusion breaks down.

A this is not point here. out.
B yes, if one person can be nominated by more than one members then, all 7 have 1 common nomination. means the rule wont apply this time. but if not then there will be 7 different nominations and the rule will come into picture. so this helps. keep.
C knowing how many more nominations can be made further is not going to be helpful. reject.
D that's not helpful either. out.
E but passage already says that when there are more than 3, contentions occurs. and we don't know whether this time it has 2 or more than 3. so its of no use. out.

option B

GmatTest2026 · Answer

In evaluating the argument question, we always rely on the bridge upon which the argument depends. Here, the bridge is that if more than 3 candidates are selected, then there will be contention.

Always apply the Yes/No test to an option choice. One may either weaken or strengthen the argument.

(A) Whether any of the nominated members are known for arguing frequently with other members. That's incorrect. If we apply the same test, it has no impact on the argument.

(B) Whether a candidate can be nominated by more than one committee member. Correct: If you apply YES, then the same candidate can be nominated by different members for more than one committee. This will weaken, but if NO is applied, then different candidates can be nominated by the different members. This will strengthen.

(C) Whether any more nominations for chairperson will be made. Incorrect. It has no impact on the bridge we rely upon. 
 
(D) Whether members were allowed to nominate themselves for chairperson. Incorrect. This option also fails the YES/NO test
 
 (E) Whether there has ever been contention before an election with only two candidates. Incorrect. Same problem with option E.

Option B

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPE 
The question asks for something that would be useful “to evaluate” a position. That signals an Evaluation question.

STEP 2: UNTANGLE THE STIMULUS 
The committee member predicts that there is likely to be a lot of contention before the upcoming election for committee chairperson. The evidence is that contention occurs any time there are more than three candidates, and seven nominations have already been made.

STEP 3: PREDICT THE ANSWER 
There are two assumptions here, both based on the suggestion that contention arises when there are more than three candidates for a position. First, the evidence only says seven nominations were made. That doesn’t mean those people are actually going to run in the election. Maybe some will decline the nomination, or maybe some will accept but then drop out. Second, there are seven nominations, but that doesn’t mean they are for seven different people. Perhaps everyone nominated the same member and that person will run unopposed. So the author is assuming both that the nominated members will be candidates and that more than three people were nominated. The correct answer will question whether either one of these assumptions is valid.

STEP 4: EVALUATE THE CHOICES  
 (B) is correct , as it questions the assumption about duplicated nominations. If candidates can receive multiple nominations, then the seven nominations need not be for more than three candidates. That would make the argument less convincing. However, if there is no duplication, then there are seven different people nominated, and the argument is strengthened. (A) is irrelevant. Contention is said to be based on the number of candidates in the election, not how argumentative those candidates are. (C) is irrelevant. There are already seven nominations. If that includes more than three distinct candidates, then it doesn’t matter how many more nominations, if any, are made. The prediction is valid either way. (D) is irrelevant. The contention is said to be based on the number of candidates, not on who nominated them. (E) is irrelevant. The argument is based on the assumption that there will be more than three candidates. It doesn’t matter what happens when there are only two candidates.

Committee member: Last week, committee members were encouraged to

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Committee member: Last week, committee members were encouraged to

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