Of all the photographs taken of him at his wedding there was one that

Question

Of all the photographs taken of him at his wedding there was one that John and his friends sharply disagreed about. His friends all said that this particular picture did not much resemble him, but John said that on the contrary it was the only photograph that did.
Which one of the following, if true, about the photograph most helps to explain John’s disagreement with his friends?

Which one of the following, if true, about the photograph most helps to explain John’s disagreement with his friends?

(A) It, unlike the other photographs of John, showed him in the style of dress he and his friends usually wear rather than the formal clothes he wore at the ceremony.

(B) It was the only photograph taken of John at his wedding for which the photographer had used a flash.

(C) It was a black-and-white photograph, whereas the other photographs that showed John were mostly color photographs.

(D) It was unique in showing John’s face reflected in a mirror, the photographer having taken the photograph over John’s shoulder.

(E) It was one of only a few taken at the wedding that showed no one but John.

sprtng · Accepted Answer

I'm going with D.

(A) It, unlike the other photographs of John, showed him in the style of dress he and his friends usually wear rather than the formal clothes he wore at the ceremony. --his friends wouldn't argue with him if this is the case since they would recognize his style of dress.
(B) It was the only photograph taken of John at his wedding for which the photographer had used a flash. -flash wouldn't make a difference...
(C) It was a black-and-white photograph, whereas the other photographs that showed John were mostly color photographs. -black/white wouldn't make a difference either
(D) It was unique in showing John’s face reflected in a mirror, the photographer having taken the photograph over John’s shoulder. -  picking this one because his friends are used to look at him directly, while john can only look at himself in the mirror(reversed - left is right, right is left) 
(E) It was one of only a few taken at the wedding that showed no one but John. -one of only a few...so there are others that they might argue about

perfectstranger · Answer

Nice question . Well all the answer choices except D looks like each other. I guess the angle the friends of John when taking the picture was different from his so there exists difference when evaluating whether or not it fits the John.

sdrandom1 · Answer

Sure D on this one. One can never see one's own face except in a mirror. And thats why John thinks that this picture resembles him since he is used to seeing himself only in a mirror. All his friends see him face-to-face regularly, so they must be seeing some subtle differences, which John is not seeing.

rkassal · Answer

D seems to be the answer. John's friends see him often in good or bad light (so flash wouldn't matter) but they never see him in a mirror. John is the only one who sees himself in a mirror. So, he would be familiar with what he looks like but only with the aid of a mirror. His friends on the other hand would not know that. In other words, John perceives himself differently from how his friends perceive him. Why? Because of the mirror.

crackHSW · Answer

Its clear D , resolve the paradox require both the strengthening and weakening of the argument (A) It, unlike the other photographs of John, showed him in the style of dress he and his friends usually wear rather than the formal clothes he wore at the ceremony. (Actually contradicts , cause he is wearing style which he and his friends usually wear , so if anything this should help his friends.) (B) It was the only photograph taken of John at his wedding for which the photographer had used a flash. Out of scope if only flash should help in the night which should help to have the same consent both from him and his friends (C) It was a black-and-white photograph, whereas the other photographs that showed John were mostly color photographs. Out of scope (D) It was unique in showing John’s face reflected in a mirror, the photographer having taken the photograph over John’s shoulder. Correct , John would be able to identify himself cause he is used to seeing himself that ways , his friends wont , by the way this is wrong if you go by physics you cant capture virtual images , but its a GMAT exam not a Physics olympiad :-D

(E) It was one of only a few taken at the wedding that showed no one but John. Out of scope

unraveled · Answer

Spent 3 minutes only to choose A, however, without any confidence.

I believe similar logic is tested in this one also. https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-figures- ... ml#p845256 In both the question, the way the passage is constructed, it was about protagonist's view/point at the centre of the argument(crux) that makes things confusing.

Adit_ · Answer

I am not really sure how much of a GMAT question this is. It really is based on interpretation IMO. I could say that option B is right because maybe using the flash caused it to give a more clear picture of his face compared to before. Option C being that his friends weren't used to looking at black-white photograph.
Option C as people have pointed out being that the reflection in a mirror was visible. 
I am not sure why option C is strongest here because reflection of mirror could absolutely again be the exact same as what his friends are used to seeing I am not sure why his friends would disagree with that and I am having to make out of the box assumptions here just to think in the shoes of the question maker I honestly feel in this case. 
Kindly help me out on this.

AbhishekP220108 · Answer

Hi  Adit_  I agree with you. Since LSAT passages are based on wide gaps, you can ignore this one

bb · Answer

GMATNinja  - what do you think about this question?

I feel it’s quite smart and tricky and I feel embarrassed I didn’t think of it but wondering how applicable it may be to the GMAT.

guddo · Answer

Of all the photographs taken of him at his wedding there was one that John and his friends sharply disagreed about. His friends all said that this particular picture did not much resemble him, but John said that on the contrary it was the only photograph that did.
Which one of the following, if true, about the photograph most helps to explain John’s disagreement with his friends?

The point is that John and his friends are judging resemblance from different perspectives. The best explanation is that  John is used to seeing himself the way he appears in a mirror, while his friends are used to seeing his face directly . So a mirror-image photograph could look more like John to John, but less like him to his friends.

(A) It, unlike the other photographs of John, showed him in the style of dress he and his friends usually wear rather than the formal clothes he wore at the ceremony.

This might make the picture feel more familiar, but it does not explain why John and his friends would sharply disagree about whether it resembles him.

(B) It was the only photograph taken of John at his wedding for which the photographer had used a flash.

This does not explain the disagreement. A flash may change lighting, but there is no clear reason it would make John think the picture resembles him while his friends think it does not.

(C) It was a black-and-white photograph, whereas the other photographs that showed John were mostly color photographs.

Color versus black-and-white does not explain the specific disagreement about resemblance.

(D) It was unique in showing John’s face reflected in a mirror, the photographer having taken the photograph over John’s shoulder.

This is the best answer. John is used to seeing his own face in mirrors, so the mirror image may look more like him to him. His friends are used to seeing him normally, so that same image may look less like him to them.

(E) It was one of only a few taken at the wedding that showed no one but John.

This does not explain why John and his friends would disagree about resemblance.

Answer: (D)

Adit_ · Answer

Not GMATNinja but just wanted to add something on a side note that all these tricky questions I find on the forum quiz! And there are some really underrated question I find when I attempt an adaptive quiz most of which seem really tricky yet only rated as 605-655 range. I feel like those are hidden treasures at the same time the difficulty level is kind of skewed down because of not too many attempts I feel or not sure exactly but great questions!

bb

GMATNinja - what do you think about this question?

I feel it’s quite smart and tricky and I feel embarrassed I didn’t think of it but wondering how applicable it may be to the GMAT.

Of all the photographs taken of him at his wedding there was one that

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