Weaken CR

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Weaken CR

by karthikpandian19 » Wed May 09, 2012 10:49 pm
Many critics of our Public Schools maintain that far more stress is being placed upon achievements in athletics than is necessary. They condemn the rule that makes games a compulsory part of the school curriculum, saying that it is a tyranny to compel students with no athletic bent to spend hours of misery on the sports field. Such students, they say, should be left to themselves, so that they can more fruitfully utilize their time pursuing a profitable and creative hobby.

Which of the following statements, if true, most weakens the stand taken by the critics?

(A) Many students prefer the sports field to the closed environment of the classroom.

(B) Athletics imparts a sense of discipline and ambition in the students.

(3) Most Private Schools also make it compulsory for students to participate in sporting activities.

(D) Many students who are not interested in sports and athletics do not have a gainful hobby.

(E) Research has shown that athletics play an important role in shaping an individual`s personality.

[spoiler]Actual Answer : D

Explanation
You are required to point to the statement that 'most weakens' the critics` contention.
The essence of their claim is that students who are non-athletic can spend their time better pursuing a productive hobby.
But if it is true that many such students will not have such a hobby to pursue, the critics` claim is weakened.

Option D is thus the best answer, as it directly attacks the contention of the critics.

Of the other statements, options B and E also go against the critics, but it is option D which most weakens their claim.

Hence (D) is the correct answer.[/spoiler]

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by karthikpandian19 » Mon May 21, 2012 12:32 am
Can some GMAT Expert explain this CR for me?

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by bittu.0807 » Mon May 21, 2012 3:09 am
I also had a doubt between B/D/E
However, I eliminated B and E because, they are saying the same thing.
So I choose D.

But I also want to know in case of B and E, is it outside information?
Should we not consider these type of information?

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by karthikpandian19 » Mon May 21, 2012 6:19 am
Sometimes when it is difficult to identify the list of weakening statements....the strategy is to rank each one of them.

By ranking method we can find that D weakens the most ......


hope this helps...
bittu.0807 wrote:I also had a doubt between B/D/E
However, I eliminated B and E because, they are saying the same thing.
So I choose D.

But I also want to know in case of B and E, is it outside information?
Should we not consider these type of information?

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by bittu.0807 » Mon May 21, 2012 10:29 pm
karthikpandian19, can you tell us how you do ranking?

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by karthikpandian19 » Mon May 21, 2012 11:16 pm
There is no hard and fast rules for ranking. I have seen this strategy being used in Manhattan strategy guides.

In this problem, the following options are to be ranked as it is only confusing us, as others are surely out of the choice:

(B) Athletics imparts a sense of discipline and ambition in the students.
(D) Many students who are not interested in sports and athletics do not have a gainful hobby.
(E) Research has shown that athletics play an important role in shaping an individual`s personality.

We need to weaken the critics statement of: Children need to be left themselves to pursue a fruitful hobby.
Take the scale of 1 to 5: (5 being the most weaken)
Choice B - Tells us only about the advantages of Athletics and nothing with the link of the critic statement, so rank as 1(least)
Choice D - Clearly weakens the critics statement, if children left themselves who are not interested in sports and athletics, then they will have no gainful hobby, so rank 5
Choice E - Tells us some statistics and not the fact, so rank 1

Clearly D wins

Ranking system will make easy the problem workout only in cases of more than one probable answers. But it depends on individual to individual
bittu.0807 wrote:karthikpandian19, can you tell us how you do ranking?

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by jain2016 » Tue May 03, 2016 10:09 am
Hi Experts ,

Please shed some light on this.

I marked option B, but OA is D.

Please explain why D over B?

Many thanks in advance.

SJ