Beat The GMAT

800GMAT · Tue May 29, 2007 1:21 am

Yolanda: Gaining access to computers without
authorization and manipulating the data and
programs they contain is comparable to joyriding
in stolen cars; both involve breaking into private
property and treating it recklessly. Joyriding,
however, is the more dangerous crime because it
physically endangers people, whereas only
intellectual property is harmed in the case of
computer crimes.
Arjun: I disagree! For example, unauthorized use of
medical records systems in hospitals could
damage data systems on which human lives
depend, and therefore computer crimes also
cause physical harm to people.

The reasoning in Arjun's response is flawed because he
(A) fails to maintain a distinction made in Yolanda's
argument
(B) denies Yolanda's conclusion without providing
evidence against it
(C) relies on the actuality of a phenomenon that he
has only shown to be possible
(D) mistakes something that leads to his conclusion
for something that is necessary for his
conclusion
(E) uses as evidence a phenomenon that is
inconsistent with his own conclusion

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nauman · Tue May 29, 2007 8:48 am

I think A

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Prasanna · Tue May 29, 2007 4:46 pm

Stuck between C and D. Would go for C. Whats the OA?

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800GMAT · Tue May 29, 2007 4:47 pm

Prasanna, can u pls explain how did u arrive at C??
Thnkx

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RAGS · Thu May 31, 2007 4:21 am

option C was completly rejected by me
It says that he relies on the actuality of the phenomena. Come to think of it even Yolanda depends on the actuality. And what is the phenomena we r talking about. An example may be better word to describe it.

Please post OA

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Prasanna · Thu May 31, 2007 10:38 am

I was not fully convinced with my choice too. But of the choices I thought only C or D could be the correct ones. If I were facing this question in the exam, I would have gone with C or D (though not happy).

May be I am making a mistake here. Confused

Please post OA with explanations.

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Sadowski · Thu May 31, 2007 11:15 am

I chose C because while his example is a possibility, it doesn't happen in every case of computer crime which is his final conclusion. He says:

"...and therefore computer crimes also cause physical harm to people."

He's relying on the actuality of every computer crime leading to the damage of hospital records systems, which obviously can't be the case.

If he said "...computer crimes can cause physical harm to people" then he's mentioning it only as an example of one way that computer crimes could physically endanger someone's life.