Critical Reasoning

SmarpanGamt wrote:Almost every modern kitchen today is equipped with a microwave oven, mainly because microwave ovens offer a fast and convenient way of cooking and reheating food. Indeed, it has become a standard appliance in most households. Studies have shown, however, that microwave ovens are not completely safe and their use has occasionally resulted in serious injury. Because of this, some consumer advocates argue that microwave ovens should not be so readily accepted as a standard appliance until they can be certified to be completely safe.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument of the consumer advocates?

Microwave ovens have taken much of the joy out of cooking.
There have been many reported incidences of people who have been scalded by liquids superheated in microwave ovens.
Absolute safety is the only criterion by which an appliance should be judged to be acceptable as "standard."
There is no such thing as a completely safe appliance.
Stoves and ovens that use natural gas consume energy much more efficiently than microwave ovens.


Please suggest can option which state assumption can also be considered strength choice.
May be yes if no other options are as direct as the left ( assumption one).
Please explain ( B and C)

I received a PM asking me to comment.

This CR exhibits a language shift -- a very common flaw.

The premise is about X: microwaves are NOT COMPLETELY SAFE.
The conclusion is about Y: microwaves should not be ACCEPTED AS A STANDARD APPLIANCE.
The assumption is that X is connected to Y: that if an appliance is NOT COMPLETELY SAFE, it should not be ACCEPTED AS A STANDARD APPLIANCE.

To strengthen the conclusion, the correct answer must connect X to Y: it must link BEING COMPLETELY SAFE to BEING ACCEPTED AS A STANDARD APPLIANCE.

Only answer choice C makes this connection: Absolute safety is the only criterion by which an appliance should be judged to be acceptable as "standard."

The correct answer is C.

I like this question most and want to contribute my idea. I will make concise but deep comment.

I offer the concept of RESTATE EVIDENCE ANSWER CHOICE and ENOUGH INFORMATION ANSWER CHOICE. RESTATE EVIDENCE ANSWER CHOICE appear many times on GMATPREP and so worth to study. ENOUGH INFORMATION CHOICE appear 1 time in OG10, sorry, I do not remember.

the 2 above choices are worth noting.

B is RESTATE EVIDENCE CHOICE. thinking this way help you pass this trick next time you see this kind of trick in ASSUMPTION and STRENGTHENING questions. you can practice this trick by do searching in this forum or gmatclub forum. I post some ideas on this in those places.
I also offer concept of CONTRADICT EVIDENCE ANSWER CHOICE in this forum before. do searching.

C is ENOUGH INFORMATION, an information which is enough to make conclusion. It is more stronger than an assumption because it is enough to make conclusion not only necessary to make the conclusion as the case with an assumption.ENOUGH INFORMATION do not pass negation test and so is not assumption (some exert write an article in this forum and call ENOUGH INFORMATION sufficient assumption. but I prefer to call ENOUGH INFORMATION to avoid the confuse with normal assumption,necessary assumption). remember this name to discern the necessary assumption/normal assumption from ENOUGH INFORMATION when we are required to do so (in one question in OG 10)
to realize the difference between ENOUGH INFORMATION and ASSUMPTION. pls, find out an assumption for this argument and compare your assumption with choice C.

not over. the brute of C is that normally, a strengthener is new information which increase belief in an assumption or is an assumption (necessary assumption) as kaplan premier book teach us, a very basic and nice concept, but in this question C is not that normal strengthener. C is a strengthener which is on ENOUGH INFORMATION which is of course, a strengthener. for this reason and to remember easily I can say ENOUGH INFORMATION IS SPECIAL STRENGTHENER.

the 3rd thing to learn from this question is LANGUAGE SHIFT which is explained by the expert already.

I get right this but in 3 minute to realize B.

I hope some of you appreciate this comment.

form some reason, may be I can not get 750 because I am non native. but I think that non natives can make the hard gmat questions of high quality, the quality of gmatprep and OG questions.

tricky one! thanks duongthang! u made me think!

GMATGuruNY wrote:

SmarpanGamt wrote:Almost every modern kitchen today is equipped with a microwave oven, mainly because microwave ovens offer a fast and convenient way of cooking and reheating food. Indeed, it has become a standard appliance in most households. Studies have shown, however, that microwave ovens are not completely safe and their use has occasionally resulted in serious injury. Because of this, some consumer advocates argue that microwave ovens should not be so readily accepted as a standard appliance until they can be certified to be completely safe.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument of the consumer advocates?

Microwave ovens have taken much of the joy out of cooking.
There have been many reported incidences of people who have been scalded by liquids superheated in microwave ovens.
Absolute safety is the only criterion by which an appliance should be judged to be acceptable as "standard."
There is no such thing as a completely safe appliance.
Stoves and ovens that use natural gas consume energy much more efficiently than microwave ovens.


Please suggest can option which state assumption can also be considered strength choice.
May be yes if no other options are as direct as the left ( assumption one).
Please explain ( B and C)

I received a PM asking me to comment.

This CR exhibits a language shift -- a very common flaw.

The premise is about X: microwaves are NOT COMPLETELY SAFE.
The conclusion is about Y: microwaves should not be ACCEPTED AS A STANDARD APPLIANCE.
The assumption is that X is connected to Y: that if an appliance is NOT COMPLETELY SAFE, it should not be ACCEPTED AS A STANDARD APPLIANCE.

To strengthen the conclusion, the correct answer must connect X to Y: it must link BEING COMPLETELY SAFE to BEING ACCEPTED AS A STANDARD APPLIANCE.

Only answer choice C makes this connection: Absolute safety is the only criterion by which an appliance should be judged to be acceptable as "standard."

The correct answer is C.

Dear Mitch, can u plz tell me y the answer cannot be B. I understood your explanation but i am not that satisfied. Can u plz explain for both the options B and C.

vishrutsolanki wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

SmarpanGamt wrote:Almost every modern kitchen today is equipped with a microwave oven, mainly because microwave ovens offer a fast and convenient way of cooking and reheating food. Indeed, it has become a standard appliance in most households. Studies have shown, however, that microwave ovens are not completely safe and their use has occasionally resulted in serious injury. Because of this, some consumer advocates argue that microwave ovens should not be so readily accepted as a standard appliance until they can be certified to be completely safe.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument of the consumer advocates?

Microwave ovens have taken much of the joy out of cooking.
There have been many reported incidences of people who have been scalded by liquids superheated in microwave ovens.
Absolute safety is the only criterion by which an appliance should be judged to be acceptable as "standard."
There is no such thing as a completely safe appliance.
Stoves and ovens that use natural gas consume energy much more efficiently than microwave ovens.


Please suggest can option which state assumption can also be considered strength choice.
May be yes if no other options are as direct as the left ( assumption one).
Please explain ( B and C)

I received a PM asking me to comment.

This CR exhibits a language shift -- a very common flaw.

The premise is about X: microwaves are NOT COMPLETELY SAFE.
The conclusion is about Y: microwaves should not be ACCEPTED AS A STANDARD APPLIANCE.
The assumption is that X is connected to Y: that if an appliance is NOT COMPLETELY SAFE, it should not be ACCEPTED AS A STANDARD APPLIANCE.

To strengthen the conclusion, the correct answer must connect X to Y: it must link BEING COMPLETELY SAFE to BEING ACCEPTED AS A STANDARD APPLIANCE.

Only answer choice C makes this connection: Absolute safety is the only criterion by which an appliance should be judged to be acceptable as "standard."

The correct answer is C.

Dear Mitch, can u plz tell me y the answer cannot be B. I understood your explanation but i am not that satisfied. Can u plz explain for both the options B and C.

Answer choice B: There have been many reported incidences of people who have been scalded by liquids superheated in microwave ovens.
From the passage: Their use has occasionally resulted in serious injury.

B attempts to confirm the PREMISE that the use of microwave ovens has resulted in serious injury.
A premise is a FACT NOT IN DISPUTE; it does not need to be strengthened.
The correct answer must support the ASSUMPTION: that the safety issues attributed to microwave ovens are sufficient reason NOT to accept microwave ovens as a STANDARD APPLIANCE.
Only C supports this link.

Clearly C !

Got tricked to B !

C is correct.
I don't think that strengthen the argument.

Almost every modern kitchen today is equipped with a microwave oven, mainly because microwave ovens offer a fast and convenient way of cooking and reheating food. Indeed, it has become a standard appliance in most households. Studies have shown, however, that microwave ovens are not completely safe and their use has occasionally resulted in serious injury. Because of this, some consumer advocates argue that microwave ovens should not be so readily accepted as a standard appliance until they can be certified to be completely safe.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument of the consumer advocates?

(A) Microwave ovens have taken much of the joy out of cooking. (not relevant)
(B) There have been many reported incidences of people who have been scalded by liquids superheated in microwave ovens.(would weaken the argument)
(C) Absolute safety is the only criterion by which an appliance should be judged to be acceptable as "standard."
(D) There is no such thing as a completely safe appliance.(???)
(E) Stoves and ovens that use natural gas consume energy much more efficiently than microwave ovens.(not relevant)

C.

Eliminate B as there can be other appliances like stoves due to which liquids can be superheated and can cause injury.

Answer is C

(C) Absolute safety is the only criterion by which an appliance should be judged to be acceptable as 'standard'. Correct.

I glanced through the question as follows.
"every modern kitchen" I recalled the image of a kitchen most familiar with me, my kitchen room.

The (C) answer defines the term "standard".
So it is in quotes.

See question. "To be accepted as a "standard" appliance"

For an appliance to be considered "standard" it must be safe to work with, safe to operate, etc.

Other factors such as affordability, timing factor (speed with which the home appliance gets things done) are still relevant,
but safety matters more.

As you parse the question visually, try to file=-tag it under whatever tags seem fancy to you.
Filed under: home appliances, then you can easily ignore things "common households" "fast and convenient way of reheating food"

If you see "studies have shown" then it is tagged under a #Research-Done.

When you read this:
Because of this, some consumer advocates argue that microwave ovens should not be so readily accepted as a standard appliance until they can be certified to be completely safe.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument of the consumer advocates?

Think of yourself as a consumer advocate.
under Consumer Protection Act.
We need an argument to strengthen our primary argument: "Home appliances are to be certified to be completely safe".
We didnt say "Home appliances are to be certified to be completely affordable, completely convenient, etc"

So 'safe' is your word to look out for from among the answer choices.

Even though (D) says "there is no such thing as a completely safe appliance."
That would typically be the manufacturers' response.
to our argument.

But we are looking to strength our own argument. butnot weaken the other parties' conclusion.
That is, we choose to argue, and delay judgment.
Thats why we are advocates

There is one more way to eliminate answer choices quickly.
If you see something like "Safety is the only criterion"
then re-read it as "Safety is a primary criterion".

If you see something like "There is no such thing as a completely safe thing"
then re-read it as "There are still some unsafe things already in the market.

Avoid things like "completely safe"
Those are superlatives.

Then examine the tags that you filed/tagged about what the question talks about:
Home appliances, safety in appliance design, consumer advocacy.

Who said anything about "joy" of cooking? Take (a) out of considering answer choices (abcde)
(bcde)
Answer (E) is something tagged under "Energy Efficiency" "Sources of energy"
What source of energy is efficient and whats not?
Thats not the topic of the question.

Sometimes you have to ask yourself, make a question out of a answer choice.

Now (B) looks like plausible answer.
There have been many reported incidences of people who have been scalded by liquids superheated in microwave ovens.
Condense it as "People have been dangerously scalded" "because they used microwave ovens."

It - answer choice B will still strengthen our argument, Our under-consideration are as of now. (BC)
But it tends to leave out something to chance.
Yes people have been scalded, we know that, so what do we do?

Safety should be the primary criterion before a home appliance is considered "standard". "certified" "accepted" etc.
By virtue of being safe to handle, use etc. a microwave oven becomes a standard accepted home appliance.
The safety is in the certification.