With a record number of new companies starting up in Derderia, and with previously established companies adding many new jobs, a record number of new jobs were created last year in the Derderian economy. This year, previously established companies will not be adding as many new jobs overall as such companies added last year. Therefore, unless
a record number of companies start up this year, Derderia will not break its record for new jobs created.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?
A. In a given year, new companies starting up create more new jobs on average than do previously established companies.
B. The number of people seeking employment is no larger this year than it was last year.
C. This year, the new companies starting up will not provide substantially more jobs per company than did new companies last year.
D. Previously established companies in Derderia will be less profitable this year than such companies were last year.
E. The number of jobs created in the Derderian economy last year was substantially larger than the number of jobs lost.
Can anyone explain why OA iS C
I tried to apply defender role but was not successful.
OA C
Derderia employment
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imoC
conclusion:Therefore, unless a record number of companies start up this year, Derderia will not break its record for new jobs created.
C: This year, the new companies starting up will not provide substantially more jobs per company than did new companies last year.
Negation rule:This year, the new companies starting up will provide substantially more jobs per company than did new companies last year.
Thus if this is the thing,then Derderia might break its record for new jobs created.
This goes against the conclusion and the argument falls apart.
Thus C
thx
conclusion:Therefore, unless a record number of companies start up this year, Derderia will not break its record for new jobs created.
C: This year, the new companies starting up will not provide substantially more jobs per company than did new companies last year.
Negation rule:This year, the new companies starting up will provide substantially more jobs per company than did new companies last year.
Thus if this is the thing,then Derderia might break its record for new jobs created.
This goes against the conclusion and the argument falls apart.
Thus C
thx
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(c) is correct.
when you examine questions involving quantitative arguments - which this argument definitely is, even though it doesn't contain actual numbers - you should focus especially on the quantitative parts of the argument.
sure enough, in this problem, the issue is to be found in the numbers: the argument asserts that a record number of new startups must be founded. however, what's actually needed is a record number of new startup jobs. therefore, you need an assumption that solidifies the idea that, unless a record number of startups are founded, you won't get a record number of startup jobs, either.
choice c does exactly that.
--
when you examine questions involving quantitative arguments - which this argument definitely is, even though it doesn't contain actual numbers - you should focus especially on the quantitative parts of the argument.
sure enough, in this problem, the issue is to be found in the numbers: the argument asserts that a record number of new startups must be founded. however, what's actually needed is a record number of new startup jobs. therefore, you need an assumption that solidifies the idea that, unless a record number of startups are founded, you won't get a record number of startup jobs, either.
choice c does exactly that.
--
Last edited by lunarpower on Fri May 28, 2010 3:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Is "unless a record number of companies start up this year" also part of the conclusion? This bit throws me off, as it makes me believe that the author wants support that new startups this year could in fact break last year's record for jobs created (since existing jobs alone cannot break the record).
This reasoning has caused me to choose A, because A establishes that new companies create more jobs than existing companies. If this assumption weren't true - that is, if new companies do NOT create more jobs than existing companies do - then Derderia has no chance of breaking last year's record, which contradicts the "unless a record number of companies start up this year" statement.
I already understand the explanation for why C is correct, but I need an explanation for why A is incorrect. Could anyone please explain?
Thank you for your time.
This reasoning has caused me to choose A, because A establishes that new companies create more jobs than existing companies. If this assumption weren't true - that is, if new companies do NOT create more jobs than existing companies do - then Derderia has no chance of breaking last year's record, which contradicts the "unless a record number of companies start up this year" statement.
I already understand the explanation for why C is correct, but I need an explanation for why A is incorrect. Could anyone please explain?
Thank you for your time.
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absolutely yes.trumpet1184 wrote:Is "unless a record number of companies start up this year" also part of the conclusion?
this is not a correct interpretation of the word "unless".This bit throws me off, as it makes me believe that the author wants support that new startups this year could in fact break last year's record for jobs created (since existing jobs alone cannot break the record).
This reasoning has caused me to choose A, because A establishes that new companies create more jobs than existing companies. If this assumption weren't true - that is, if new companies do NOT create more jobs than existing companies do - then Derderia has no chance of breaking last year's record, which contradicts the "unless a record number of companies start up this year" statement.
I already understand the explanation for why C is correct, but I need an explanation for why A is incorrect. Could anyone please explain?
Thank you for your time.
you are interpreting "unless X, Y" as meaning that X must happen. this is really really really bad.
if you don't see why this is bad reasoning, let's apply it to another situation.
let's say a friend tells you, "unless you live in an unsafe neighborhood, i'll spend the night at your place." this obviously doesn't mean that you are trying to prove that you live in an unsafe neighborhood.
--
here's a better way to handle "unless" statements:
you can rephrase "unless X, Y" as
"one of X or Y MUST be true."
so, the conclusion of this particular argument may be rephrased as
"either a record # of companies start up this year OR derderia will NOT break its job creation record."
--
also, don't forget that an ASSUMPTION is a statement that is 100% NECESSARY for an argument to work - i.e., if the assumption is false, then the entire argument falls apart.
if you look at choice (a) you can see that it definitely doesn't HAVE to be true, so it's wrong.
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lunarpower wrote:absolutely yes.trumpet1184 wrote:Is "unless a record number of companies start up this year" also part of the conclusion?
this is not a correct interpretation of the word "unless".This bit throws me off, as it makes me believe that the author wants support that new startups this year could in fact break last year's record for jobs created (since existing jobs alone cannot break the record).
This reasoning has caused me to choose A, because A establishes that new companies create more jobs than existing companies. If this assumption weren't true - that is, if new companies do NOT create more jobs than existing companies do - then Derderia has no chance of breaking last year's record, which contradicts the "unless a record number of companies start up this year" statement.
I already understand the explanation for why C is correct, but I need an explanation for why A is incorrect. Could anyone please explain?
Thank you for your time.
you are interpreting "unless X, Y" as meaning that X must happen. this is really really really bad.
if you don't see why this is bad reasoning, let's apply it to another situation.
let's say a friend tells you, "unless you live in an unsafe neighborhood, i'll spend the night at your place." this obviously doesn't mean that you are trying to prove that you live in an unsafe neighborhood.
--
here's a better way to handle "unless" statements:
you can rephrase "unless X, Y" as
"one of X or Y MUST be true."
so, the conclusion of this particular argument may be rephrased as
"either a record # of companies start up this year OR derderia will NOT break its job creation record."
--
also, don't forget that an ASSUMPTION is a statement that is 100% NECESSARY for an argument to work - i.e., if the assumption is false, then the entire argument falls apart.
if you look at choice (a) you can see that it definitely doesn't HAVE to be true, so it's wrong.
Ron... u rock !!
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thanks
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@Ron....as you explained the meaning of Unless so this means that C strengthen one of the components of the conclusion which is derdia will not be able to break its record am i right
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i'm not sure whether i understand the meaning of this post, but i'm a little bit worried by the presence of the word "strengthen".ssgmatter wrote:@Ron....as you explained the meaning of Unless so this means that C strengthen one of the components of the conclusion which is derdia will not be able to break its record am i right
it appears that you are treating "find the assumption" as if it were the same as "strengthen the conclusion".
these two categories are not at all the same; if you think that they are, you should probably check out some basic CR reading materials for the differences between the two, and then come back and post regarding questions like this one.
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here's a treatment of these choices:ssgmatter wrote:I am still confused with option A , C and B here
this comparison is not relevant to the content of the argument; the argument never compares the job creation rate of new companies with that of previously established companies.A. In a given year, new companies starting up create more new jobs on average than do previously established companies.
there are only two comparisons that are actually made in the passage:
1 * last year's job creation rate for previously established companies vs. this year's job creation rate for previously established companies
2 * last year's job creation rate for start-up companies vs. this year's job creation rate for start-up companies
anything that is not pertinent to these two comparisons is irrelevant here.
if you're still confused at this point, it's probably not the logic -- it's probably just the obscure topics in the problem. so here's an analogy:
* this year, the local public library made less money from donations than it did last year.
* this year, the library also made less money from fines than it did last year.
* therefore, the library will have a reduced budget this year.
in this example, if i told you "the amount of money collected from donations was greater than the amount of money collected from fines", it just wouldn't matter -- that comparison is not relevant in this example.
same thing with the problem at hand.
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this topic is irrelevant to the argument -- the argument is concerned only with the number of jobs being created, not with the number of individuals competing for those jobs once they have been created.B. The number of people seeking employment is no larger this year than it was last year.
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Thankyou Ron!. for the expalanation.lunarpower wrote:this topic is irrelevant to the argument -- the argument is concerned only with the number of jobs being created, not with the number of individuals competing for those jobs once they have been created.B. The number of people seeking employment is no larger this year than it was last year.
However I don't understand how come option B talks about people competing for job???
You have already explained the interpretation of Unless in this argument however I am not able to relate C to the conclusion of the arg
When you say that Unless X Y.....means that either X or Y......so that means????.....Can you please help me showing this link with the conclusion by using option C...
Thanks!
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Option C stands correct quite clearly. Its an assumption question where in a cause is stated with the effect. So if there is a missing assumption, then there is some cause which isnt stated for the effect mentioned.
The effect/Conclusion : Unless
a record number of companies start up this year, Derderia will not break its record for new jobs created.
The cause: previously established companies will not be adding as many new jobs overall as such companies added last year.
Option C provides me with another cause. This year, the new companies starting up will not provide substantially more jobs per company than did new companies last year. If this shouldn't be the case, then i won't be needing more or a record number of companies to start up new this year.
It is like this. Say last year i had 50 companies starting up with 5000 jobs, with say 100 jobs per company. Now, this year, either i need 500 companies with more than 10 jobs per company OR i need only 10 companies with 500 jobs. In either case, i get the result.
Hope it helps.
The effect/Conclusion : Unless
a record number of companies start up this year, Derderia will not break its record for new jobs created.
The cause: previously established companies will not be adding as many new jobs overall as such companies added last year.
Option C provides me with another cause. This year, the new companies starting up will not provide substantially more jobs per company than did new companies last year. If this shouldn't be the case, then i won't be needing more or a record number of companies to start up new this year.
It is like this. Say last year i had 50 companies starting up with 5000 jobs, with say 100 jobs per company. Now, this year, either i need 500 companies with more than 10 jobs per company OR i need only 10 companies with 500 jobs. In either case, i get the result.
Hope it helps.
Sandy