Critical Reasoning

vinay1983 wrote:Is the OA C

theCodeToGMAT wrote:In two months, the legal minimum wage in the country of Kirlandia will increase from five Kirlandic dollars (KD5.00) Per hour to KD5.50 per hour. Opponents of this increase have argued that the resulting rise in wages will drive the inflation rate up. In fact its impact on wages will probably be negligible, since only a very small proportion of all Kirlandic workers are currently receiving less than KD5.50 per hour. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

Conclusion: In fact its impact on wages will probably be negligible, since only a very small proportion of all Kirlandic workers are currently receiving less than KD5.50 per hour.

So what the prompt is asking us is to find an assumption that weakens this"Rise in min wages has negligible effect idea"

Let us start analysing the options

A. Most people in Kirlandia who are currently earning the minimum wage have been employed at their current jobs for less than a year. Then the rise has no effect whatsoever. Rather this option does not help us anyway. Eliminate

B. Some firms in Kirlandia have paid workers considerably less than KD5.00 per hour, in violation of Kirlandic employment regulations. In real life maybe we can file a case against them, but as of now we are concerned about the prompt only. So we are not bothered about the wage structure here

C. Many businesses hire trainees at or near the minimum wage but must reward trained workers by keeping their pay levels above the pay level of trainees. Yes, this is something, if the business have to increase the min wages of trainees, then have to pay the experienced workers more than the minimum. This will definitely cause inflation to increase. More pay more spending. Also many gives a majority here. If many are paid more, expect increased inflation. So you are kind of correct here

D. The greatest growth in Kirlandia's economy in recent years has been in those sectors where workers earn wages that tend to be much higher than the minimum wage. Again not in the scope. Growth, we are not talking about it

E. The current minimum wage is insufficient for a worker holding only one job to earn enough to support a family, even when working full time at that job. This actually strengthens the argument. The rise is justified and is favourable. Good trap answer

Hope I could help you!

theCodeToGMAT wrote:In two months, the legal minimum wage in the country of Kirlandia will increase from five Kirlandic dollars (KD5.00) Per hour to KD5.50 per hour. Opponents of this increase have argued that the resulting rise in wages will drive the inflation rate up. In fact its impact on wages will probably be negligible, since only a very small proportion of all Kirlandic workers are currently receiving less than KD5.50 per hour. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. Most people in Kirlandia who are currently earning the minimum wage have been employed at their current jobs for less than a year.

B. Some firms in Kirlandia have paid workers considerably less than KD5.00 per hour, in violation of Kirlandic employment regulations.

C. Many businesses hire trainees at or near the minimum wage but must reward trained workers by keeping their pay levels above the pay level of trainees.

D. The greatest growth in Kirlandia's economy in recent years has been in those sectors where workers earn wages that tend to be much higher than the minimum wage.

E. The current minimum wage is insufficient for a worker holding only one job to earn enough to support a family, even when working full time at that job.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

theCodeToGMAT wrote:In two months, the legal minimum wage in the country of Kirlandia will increase from five Kirlandic dollars (KD5.00) Per hour to KD5.50 per hour. Opponents of this increase have argued that the resulting rise in wages will drive the inflation rate up. In fact its impact on wages will probably be negligible, since only a very small proportion of all Kirlandic workers are currently receiving less than KD5.50 per hour. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. Most people in Kirlandia who are currently earning the minimum wage have been employed at their current jobs for less than a year.

B. Some firms in Kirlandia have paid workers considerably less than KD5.00 per hour, in violation of Kirlandic employment regulations.

C. Many businesses hire trainees at or near the minimum wage but must reward trained workers by keeping their pay levels above the pay level of trainees.

D. The greatest growth in Kirlandia's economy in recent years has been in those sectors where workers earn wages that tend to be much higher than the minimum wage.

E. The current minimum wage is insufficient for a worker holding only one job to earn enough to support a family, even when working full time at that job.

The passage contends that an INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE will not drive up inflation because the increase will have a NEGLIGIBLE IMPACT ON WAGES.
To weaken the conclusion, the correct answer choice must show that the impact on wages will NOT be negligible or that inflation will be driven up IN ANOTHER WAY.

Answer choice C: Many businesses hire trainees at or near the minimum wage but must reward trained workers by keeping their pay levels above the pay level of trainees.
Thus, an increase in the minimum wage will lead to an INCREASE IN THE WAGES OF TRAINED WORKERS, weakening the conclusion that the impact on wages will be negligible.

The correct answer is C.

E. The current minimum wage is insufficient for a worker holding only one job to earn enough to support a family, even when working full time at that job.
This answer choice does not affect the link between an increase in the minimum wage and its impact on wages and inflation.
Eliminate E.

GMATGuruNY wrote: The passage contends that an INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE will not drive up inflation because the increase will have a NEGLIGIBLE IMPACT ON WAGES.
To weaken the conclusion, the correct answer choice must show that the impact on wages will NOT be negligible or that inflation will be driven up IN ANOTHER WAY.

Answer choice C: Many businesses hire trainees at or near the minimum wage but must reward trained workers by keeping their pay levels above the pay level of trainees.
Thus, an increase in the minimum wage will lead to an INCREASE IN THE WAGES OF TRAINED WORKERS, weakening the conclusion that the impact on wages will be negligible.

The correct answer is C.

E. The current minimum wage is insufficient for a worker holding only one job to earn enough to support a family, even when working full time at that job.
This answer choice does not affect the link between an increase in the minimum wage and its impact on wages and inflation.
Eliminate E.

divineacclivity wrote: Second, I have a question here:
C. Many businesses hire trainees at or near the minimum wage but must reward trained workers by keeping their pay levels above the pay level of trainees.

You're saying that option C weakens because it says that since the businesses have to reward the trained workers by keeping their pay levels above those of trainees, and that's why businesses would have to increase the payouts of trained employees too if they increase the minimum payouts of trainees.
But, my thought here is, if the increase is not substantial(as the argument suggests) , then the companies might not have to increase the payouts of the trained employees since the increase is v small and the argument or the option doesn't say that they have to maintain the difference between the payouts of the trained and the trainees.
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