Weaken-- Certain gemstones are formed by magma

[veenu08]

Certain gemstones are formed by magma, a material found deep inside the Earth, that has pushed toward the surface and solidified; others are created when superheated water and gases cool. When chemical action, heat, or pressure changes the existing structure of rocks, they may recrystallize to form gemstones such as emeralds. A large chemical company plans to create a new source of profits by applying certain of the chemicals it manufactures to specifically chosen rock samples, which would be a much less expensive way to produce emeralds than mining them.

which one of the following, if true, poses the most serious problem for the success of the company's
plan?

A. Man-made emeralds will not be considered as valuable as naturally produced emeralds.
B. Natural emeralds are produced by heat and pressure much more frequently than by chemical action.
C. The types of material from which emeralds are formed are not found on the Earth's surface.
D. Laboratory conditions are difficult to replicate in a large-scale factory.
E. The gases that will mix with superheated water are so toxic that workers could suffer from a number of serious medical conditions if the handling of such gases is not strictly controlled.


[spoiler]OA- A

confused b/w A and C[/spoiler]

[theCodeToGMAT]

Surely[spoiler] {A}[/spoiler]... it is must better contender than [spoiler]{C}[/spoiler]

{C} - There are many signalling words/meanings here which make this answer choice less problematic..
- "Earth's surface" .. What if Companies can get this material by a small digging work
- What if the material is not found in composite form.. but can be made from mixture of two chemicals.. You see many daily usage items which are not found in the state you use.. example: Soap ..

[vinay1983]

Certain gemstones are formed by magma, a material found deep inside the Earth, that has pushed toward the surface and solidified; others are created when superheated water and gases cool. When chemical action, heat, or pressure changes the existing structure of rocks, they may recrystallize to form gemstones such as emeralds. A large chemical company plans to create a new source of profits by applying certain of the chemicals it manufactures to specifically chosen rock samples, which would be a much less expensive way to produce emeralds than mining them.

which one of the following, if true, poses the most serious problem for the success of the company's
plan?

A. Man-made emeralds will not be considered as valuable as naturally produced emeralds.
B. Natural emeralds are produced by heat and pressure much more frequently than by chemical action.
C. The types of material from which emeralds are formed are not found on the Earth's surface.
D. Laboratory conditions are difficult to replicate in a large-scale factory.
E. The gases that will mix with superheated water are so toxic that workers could suffer from a number of serious medical conditions if the handling of such gases is not strictly controlled.


[spoiler]OA- A

confused b/w A and C[/spoiler]

Suppose after all hue and cry, the end product (in this case emerald) does not fetch price in the market, then the company can post losses instead of profits(which it yearns for). So the plan will be a major failure. So A

C- says "such materials" are not found. Then there can be as well no production of emeralds through natural processes. If there is no material as such, then even after undergoing so much process, we many not find emeralds naturally

[ceilidh.erickson]

Whenever you see the word PROFIT in a CR argument, you can bet that the answer will hinge on the principle PROFIT = REVENUE - COST

Given: man-made emeralds are less COSTLY to produce than to mine
Conclusion: this will create PROFITS

Logical Gap: What about REVENUE? Will it remain consistent?
If we want to create a "serious problem" for the plan, we want an answer choice that suggests that the revenue will NOT stay consistent. "A" is the only answer choice that does this.

C does not necessarily speak to revenue or cost, and thus would not weaken the idea that they'll make profit.

[vivekvijayan]

Why is D not the answer? to earn profits the company would need to produce the gems on a large scale.

[ceilidh.erickson]

Why is D not the answer? to earn profits the company would need to produce the gems on a large scale.

You're making assumptions here. Maybe the company would need to produce them in a large factory setting, but maybe just producing a few thousand in a lab would be enough. We're not given any information about the current size of the company, so we have no idea how large their production needs to be.

Be careful not to choose any answer choices that would introduce new logical gaps into the argument.

[Sk1ver]

Certain gemstones are formed by magma, a material found deep inside the Earth, that has pushed toward the surface and solidified; others are created when superheated water and gases cool. When chemical action, heat, or pressure changes the existing structure of rocks, they may recrystallize to form gemstones such as emeralds. A large chemical company plans to create a new source of profits by applying certain of the chemicals it manufactures to specifically chosen rock samples, which would be a much less expensive way to produce emeralds than mining them.

which one of the following, if true, poses the most serious problem for the success of the company's
plan?

A. Man-made emeralds will not be considered as valuable as naturally produced emeralds.
B. Natural emeralds are produced by heat and pressure much more frequently than by chemical action.
C. The types of material from which emeralds are formed are not found on the Earth's surface.
D. Laboratory conditions are difficult to replicate in a large-scale factory.
E. The gases that will mix with superheated water are so toxic that workers could suffer from a number of serious medical conditions if the handling of such gases is not strictly controlled.


[spoiler]OA- A

confused b/w A and C[/spoiler]

I am not sure if its the right path to eliminate C, but I think that C contradicts to the argument.

in the argument:
When chemical action, heat, or pressure changes the existing structure of rocks, they may recrystallize to form gemstones such as emeralds.

For me, it sounds like there are actually types of material from which emeralds are formed, so answer C is irrelevant.

[moumi2013]

A.Man-made emeralds will not be considered as valuable as naturally produced emeralds.
B. Natural emeralds are produced by heat and pressure much more frequently than by chemical action.
C. The types of material from which emeralds are formed are not found on the Earth's surface.
D. Laboratory conditions are difficult to replicate in a large-scale factory.
E. The gases that will mix with super heated water are so toxic that workers could suffer from a number of serious medical conditions if the handling of such gases is not strictly controlled.

Explanation:

A--if man-made emeralds are not considered as valuable as natural ones, company won't gain the desired profit.
B--company is not bothered about the natural stone formation.company just wishes to expedite the process of emerald formation by adding certain chemicals
C--data discrepancy ; passage and option-C
D--Even if labratory conditions are difficult to replicate it is NOT impossible.So doesn't stop the company from manufacturing emeralds
E--nothing has been mentioned about any preventive measure that the company will/will not adopt in the emerald manufacturing unit for the well-being of the workers.however that does not disturb emerald manufacturing.

So A is the best answer.It weakens the companys plans.

[Kamal2014]

Hi,
The answer is A.
In case of C , nowhere in the passage has it been specifically mentioned that mining for those materials not available on the surface is more costly and will; make the production non viable. So it indicates nothing specific to difficulties specific to production or the costs. Hence A is the contender as the market value for the newly manufactured emeralds may not be sufficient enough to fetch intended profits.

Certain gemstones are formed by magma, a material found deep inside the Earth, that has pushed toward the surface and solidified; others are created when superheated water and gases cool. When chemical action, heat, or pressure changes the existing structure of rocks, they may recrystallize to form gemstones such as emeralds. A large chemical company plans to create a new source of profits by applying certain of the chemicals it manufactures to specifically chosen rock samples, which would be a much less expensive way to produce emeralds than mining them.

which one of the following, if true, poses the most serious problem for the success of the company's
plan?

A. Man-made emeralds will not be considered as valuable as naturally produced emeralds.
B. Natural emeralds are produced by heat and pressure much more frequently than by chemical action.
C. The types of material from which emeralds are formed are not found on the Earth's surface.
D. Laboratory conditions are difficult to replicate in a large-scale factory.
E. The gases that will mix with superheated water are so toxic that workers could suffer from a number of serious medical conditions if the handling of such gases is not strictly controlled.


[spoiler]OA- A

confused b/w A and C[/spoiler]