OG 2018 CR Q Last year Comfort Airlines

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OG 2018 CR Q Last year Comfort Airlines

by lionsshare » Thu Aug 24, 2017 1:57 pm

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Last year Comfort Airlines had twice as many delayed flights as the year before, but the number of complaints from passengers about delayed flights went up three times. It is unlikely that this disproportionate increase in complaints was rooted in an increase in overall dissatisfaction with the service Comfort Airlines provides, since the airline made a special effort to improve other aspects of its service last year.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the disproportionate increase in computer complaints?

(A) Comfort Airlines had more flight last year than the year before.
(B) Last year a single period usually bad weather caused a large number of flights to be delayed.
(C) Some of the improvements that Comfort Airlines made in its service were required by new government regulations.
(D) The average length of flight delay was greater last year than it was the year before.
(E) The average number of passengers per flight was no higher last year than the year before.

OA: D

Hi, Experts. I cannot figure out why A is incorrect. Any explanation, please. Thank you.

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Comfort Airlines

by GMATGuruNY » Fri Aug 25, 2017 4:25 am

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lionsshare wrote:Last year Comfort Airlines had twice as many delayed flights as the year before, but the number of complaints from passengers about delayed flights went up three times. It is unlikely that this disproportionate increase in complaints was rooted in an increase in overall dissatisfaction with the service Comfort Airlines provides, since the airline made a special effort to improve other aspects of its service last year.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the disproportionate increase in computer complaints?

(A) Comfort Airlines had more flight last year than the year before.
(B) Last year a single period usually bad weather caused a large number of flights to be delayed.
(C) Some of the improvements that Comfort Airlines made in its service were required by new government regulations.
(D) The average length of flight delay was greater last year than it was the year before.
(E) The average number of passengers per flight was no higher last year than the year before.
Fact 1: Comfort Airlines had twice as many delayed flights as the year before.
Fact 2: The number of complaints from passengers about delayed flights went up three times.

The correct answer must explain why the number of complaints TRIPLED, even though the number of delayed flights only DOUBLED.

D: The average length of flight delay was greater last year than it was the year before.
Here, last year's delays were LONGER than the previous year's, explaining why complaints about delays tripled, even though the number of delays only doubled.

The correct answer is D.

A: Comfort Airlines had more flights last year than the year before.
Since the argument is only about DELAYED flights, the total number of flights is irrelevant.
It is given as a premise that the number of delayed flights doubled.
Option A does not explain why a doubling in the number of delayed flights led to a tripling in the number of complaints.
Eliminate A.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Wed Oct 25, 2017 9:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by Vincen » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:00 pm

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And what is wrong with B? It would help to increase of the complaints.

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Oct 05, 2017 3:44 am

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Vincen wrote:And what is wrong with B? It would help to increase of the complaints.
B: Last year a single period of unusually bad weather caused a large number of flights to be delayed.
It is given as a PREMISE that last year Comfort Airlines had twice as many delayed flights.
Option B merely confirms that there was an increase in the number of delayed flights.
In explaining the disproportionate increase in the number of complaints, the correct answer choice must offer NEW information -- information unrelated to the number of delayed flights.
Eliminate B.
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by manishcmu » Wed Oct 25, 2017 6:54 am

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The conclusion states that the disproportionate increase does not come out of overall dissatisfaction with service. So even though increase in length of flight delay explains the disproportionate increase , it still comes out of overall dissatisfaction wit service. This is why I crossed option D. Where I am going wrong here?

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Oct 26, 2017 4:11 am

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manishcmu wrote:The conclusion states that the disproportionate increase does not come out of overall dissatisfaction with service. So even though increase in length of flight delay explains the disproportionate increase , it still comes out of overall dissatisfaction wit service. This is why I crossed option D. Where I am going wrong here?
overall = including EVERYTHING.
overall dissatisfaction with the service Comfort Airlines provides = dissatisfaction with EVERY ASPECT of the service provided by Comfort Airlines (the cleanliness of the aircraft, the quality of in-flight entertainment, etc.).
Since the OA refers to only ONE ASPECT of the service provided by Comfort Airlines -- the length of the delays -- it does not imply OVERALL dissatisfaction with the service.
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by Mo2men » Fri Oct 27, 2017 5:36 am

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GMATGuruNY wrote:
manishcmu wrote:The conclusion states that the disproportionate increase does not come out of overall dissatisfaction with service. So even though increase in length of flight delay explains the disproportionate increase , it still comes out of overall dissatisfaction wit service. This is why I crossed option D. Where I am going wrong here?
overall = including EVERYTHING.
overall dissatisfaction with the service Comfort Airlines provides = dissatisfaction with EVERY ASPECT of the service provided by Comfort Airlines (the cleanliness of the aircraft, the quality of in-flight entertainment, etc.).
Since the OA refers to only ONE ASPECT of the service provided by Comfort Airlines -- the length of the delays -- it does not imply OVERALL dissatisfaction with the service.
Dear Mitch,

Can you explain in some detail how the OA helps explain the discrepancy?? what has "the increase in average the length" to explain the issue at hand??

Thanks

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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Oct 27, 2017 11:47 am

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Mo2men wrote:Dear Mitch,

Can you explain in some detail how the OA helps explain the discrepancy?? what has "the increase in average the length" to explain the issue at hand??

Thanks
Consider the following case:
Whereas two years ago the average passenger had to wait only 1 HOUR to board a flight, last year the average passenger had to wait OVER 5 HOURS to board a flight.
This information explains why the number of complaints tripled, even though the number of delays only doubled:
A passenger who has to wait 5 hours is far more likely to complain than one who has to wait only 1 hour.
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by Mo2men » Fri Oct 27, 2017 12:04 pm

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GMATGuruNY wrote:
Mo2men wrote:Dear Mitch,

Can you explain in some detail how the OA helps explain the discrepancy?? what has "the increase in average the length" to explain the issue at hand??

Thanks
Consider the following case:
Whereas two years ago the average passenger had to wait only 1 HOUR to board a flight, last year the average passenger had to wait OVER 5 HOURS to board a flight.
This information explains why the number of complaints tripled, even though the number of delays only doubled:
A passenger who has to wait 5 hours is far more likely to complain than one who has to wait only 1 hour.
Thanks Mitch for your reply.

In your example above, can you we consider that the following:

Within 5 hrs delay more many persons complained, compared to the number of persons complained within the 1 hr-delay 2 years ago. Could this help explain the paradox also?

Thanks

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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Oct 27, 2017 12:12 pm

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Mo2men wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Mo2men wrote:Dear Mitch,

Can you explain in some detail how the OA helps explain the discrepancy?? what has "the increase in average the length" to explain the issue at hand??

Thanks
Consider the following case:
Whereas two years ago the average passenger had to wait only 1 HOUR to board a flight, last year the average passenger had to wait OVER 5 HOURS to board a flight.
This information explains why the number of complaints tripled, even though the number of delays only doubled:
A passenger who has to wait 5 hours is far more likely to complain than one who has to wait only 1 hour.
Thanks Mitch for your reply.

In your example above, can you we consider that the following:

Within 5 hrs delay more many persons complained, compared to the number of persons complained within the 1 hr-delay 2 years ago. Could this help explain the paradox also?

Thanks
Correct!
Because of the longer delays, more customers complained.
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by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Mon Nov 06, 2017 10:37 am

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lionsshare wrote:Last year Comfort Airlines had twice as many delayed flights as the year before, but the number of complaints from passengers about delayed flights went up three times. It is unlikely that this disproportionate increase in complaints was rooted in an increase in overall dissatisfaction with the service Comfort Airlines provides, since the airline made a special effort to improve other aspects of its service last year.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the disproportionate increase in computer complaints?

(A) Comfort Airlines had more flight last year than the year before.
(B) Last year a single period usually bad weather caused a large number of flights to be delayed.
(C) Some of the improvements that Comfort Airlines made in its service were required by new government regulations.
(D) The average length of flight delay was greater last year than it was the year before.
(E) The average number of passengers per flight was no higher last year than the year before.
By saying "It is unlikely that this disproportionate increase in complaints was rooted in an increase in overall dissatisfaction with the service Comfort Airlines provides, since the airline made a special effort to improve other aspects of its service last year," the argument is set up to make clear that the complaints are triggered by delays.

So we are faced with an unexplained disproportion. The number of delays doubled, but the number of complaints about delays tripled.

(A) Comfort Airlines had more flights last year than the year before.

This choice is tempting because if Comfort Airlines had more flights, then likely Comfort Airlines had more customers. If the same proportion of customers were to complain while the total number of customers increased, then we would have more complaints.

So, if you were looking for a reason for a general increase in complaints, this answer choice might provide that reason.

We are not, however, looking for a reason for a general increase in complaints. The prompt has already stated as fact that the number of delayed flights doubled. It would logically follow that a doubling in delayed flights would result in a doubling in complaints, NO MATTER HOW MANY FLIGHTS IN TOTAL COMFORT AIRLINES HAD LAST YEAR. Only the delayed flights should trigger complaints about delays.

So, this choice does nothing to explain why the complaints about delays would increase more than delays did.

(B) Last year, a single period of unusually bad weather caused a large number of flights to be delayed.

This choice indicates that there was likely a concentration of delays in one time period. A test-taker might construe that concentration as being the cause of the increase in complaints per delay.

It is not, however, clear that such a concentration of delayed flights would cause people to be more likely to complain about delays. Further, one could argue that people who are aware that weather caused the delays would not complain about the delays.

So, this choice does not explain why complaints increased more than delays increased.

(C) Some of the improvements that Comfort Airlines made in its service were required by new government regulations.

While it is possible that a test-taker could interpret this answer choice to mean that Comfort Airlines only takes care of customers because of government involvement and thus has a poor customer service culture, the truth is that this answer choice does not indicate any change from one year to the next year in the attitude of Comfort Airlines toward customers, and therefore it does not explain why there would be a year to year change in the number of complaints.

Further, without additional information, it is close to impossible to reasonably argue that service improvements as a result of government regulation would result in increased complaints about delays. Service improvements should result in a decrease, rather than an increase, in complaints.

(D) The average length of flight delay was greater last year than it was the year before.

Correctly answering GMAT Critical Reasoning questions often requires using some common sense. So, let's use some here.

It makes sense that the longer a delay, the more likely it is that people will complain about that delay. So, if the number of delays doubles AND the delays are longer, then likely the number of complaints will more than double.

Therefore, this is the answer that explains the disproportionate increase in complaints. Delays doubled, but the delays triggered more than twice as many complaints because the delays were longer.

(E) The average number of passengers per flight was no higher last year than the year before.

What this choice says actually RULES OUT a possible reason for the increase in complaints. If the number of passengers per flight had increased, then that increase could explain why there were more complaints per delay. Had there been more passengers per flight, then when delays doubled, more that twice as many passengers would have experienced those delays. So, in saying that the number of passengers per flight stayed the same, this choice rules out one possible reason for the increase in complaints.

To avoid choosing a choice like this one, which is relevant to the argument but does not answer the question, you have keep clear in your mind exactly what the question is asking you to find.

Therefore, the correct answer is D

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:13 am

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lionsshare wrote:Last year Comfort Airlines had twice as many delayed flights as the year before, but the number of complaints from passengers about delayed flights went up three times. It is unlikely that this disproportionate increase in complaints was rooted in an increase in overall dissatisfaction with the service Comfort Airlines provides, since the airline made a special effort to improve other aspects of its service last year.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the disproportionate increase in computer complaints?

(A) Comfort Airlines had more flight last year than the year before.
(B) Last year a single period usually bad weather caused a large number of flights to be delayed.
(C) Some of the improvements that Comfort Airlines made in its service were required by new government regulations.
(D) The average length of flight delay was greater last year than it was the year before.
(E) The average number of passengers per flight was no higher last year than the year before.
This is a paradox question.

So, our first task is to identify the paradox (i.e., contradictory premises).

The paradox is that the number of complaints TRIPLED even though the number of delayed flights only DOUBLED.
All things considered equal, the number of complaints should have DOUBLED (not tripled).

So, we're looking for an answer choice that resolves this mystery.

Can you think of something that might explain the paradox? If so, then look for that explanation among the answer choices.
If you can't think of something, check each answer choice, and as you do so, keep reminding yourself of the paradox (complaints tripled even though delays only doubled)

(A) Comfort Airlines had more flight last year than the year before.
Does this explain why the number of complaints TRIPLED even though the number of delayed flights only DOUBLED?
No, it doesn't resolve the paradox.
ELIMINATE A

(B) Last year a single period usually bad weather caused a large number of flights to be delayed.
Does this explain why the number of complaints TRIPLED even though the number of delayed flights only DOUBLED?
No.
ELIMINATE B

(C) Some of the improvements that Comfort Airlines made in its service were required by new government regulations.
Does this explain why the number of complaints TRIPLED even though the number of delayed flights only DOUBLED?
No.
ELIMINATE C

(D) The average length of flight delay was greater last year than it was the year before.
Does this explain why the number of complaints TRIPLED even though the number of delayed flights only DOUBLED?
YES!!!
There were twice as many delays last year AND those delays were WORSE than the year before. So, there was even more to complain about!
That explains everything!
KEEP D

(E) The average number of passengers per flight was no higher last year than the year before.
Does this explain why the number of complaints TRIPLED even though the number of delayed flights only DOUBLED?
No.
ELIMINATE E

Answer: D

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Brent
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