An Environmental Impact Coalition report shows that

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An Environmental Impact Coalition report shows that wind power produces the fewest pollutants among all green energy alternatives. This shows that EnergyMill wind turbines are the best choice for powering new developments in rural areas.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument in the advertisement?
(A) An earlier Environmental Impact Coalition report showed that solar power produces fewer pollutants than does wind power.
(B) In the last five years, the government has invested more in wind power than in any other form of green energy.
(C) The dispersion of homes in rural areas makes wind power several times more expensive that conventional energy sources.
(D) The difference between the number of pollutants generated by wind power and conventional power sources is quite pronounced.
(E) The Environmental Impact Coalition issues reports only once a year.

Source: Gmathacks
OA: C.
Last edited by rakeshd347 on Fri Oct 04, 2013 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by theCodeToGMAT » Fri Oct 04, 2013 9:19 pm
Is the Answer [spoiler]{C}[/spoiler]?
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by rakeshd347 » Fri Oct 04, 2013 9:53 pm
theCodeToGMAT wrote:Is the Answer [spoiler]{C}[/spoiler]?
Answer is indeed C. But I always suspect this source. I have done gmathacks maths and there are so many error. Now in this question too. I don't think the answer is good enough.

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by theCodeToGMAT » Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:16 pm
rakeshd347 wrote:
theCodeToGMAT wrote:Is the Answer [spoiler]{C}[/spoiler]?
Answer is indeed C. But I always suspect this source. I have done gmathacks maths and there are so many error. Now in this question too. I don't think the answer is good enough.
Even though, I am not so much convinced with {C}.. but definitely it is better than others

{A} - INCORRECT; doesn't weaken.. it's similar to : Last year's Diesel Engine Technology gave mileage of 10km/l .. this year's technology gives 20 km/h .. So, this year's technology is better.. Strengthens

{B} - INCORRECT; doesn't weaken.. it's good government has invested.

{D} - INCORRECT; Strengthens

{E} - INCORRECT; doesn't matter whether they generate report annually.. it's not mentioned that reports are incorrect.
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by vinay1983 » Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:22 pm
Wind power is less polluting, so EnergyMill turbines have to be used in rural areas. What can weaken this? Something that can say that power transmission efficacy or cost intensive etc etc.What do the options say?

A-We are talking about wind power and not solar power.
B-What does investing have to do with generation of power. One can invest crores of rupees in projects that do not produce enough power.
C-Hmmm, there is quantum jump here. From less polluting power to cost analytics. Strange!But it does weaken since it can be considered something "out of blue". It does affect the decision because more cost intensive then the purpose cannot be achieved even though it is less polluting.There is an inherent assumption of cost factor here.
D-This strengthens the argument
E-Out of scope

Among the options C seems best but strange!
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!

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by rakeshd347 » Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:39 pm
vinay1983 wrote:Wind power is less polluting, so EnergyMill turbines have to be used in rural areas. What can weaken this? Something that can say that power transmission efficacy or cost intensive etc etc.What do the options say?

A-We are talking about wind power and not solar power.
B-What does investing have to do with generation of power. One can invest crores of rupees in projects that do not produce enough power.
C-Hmmm, there is quantum jump here. From less polluting power to cost analytics. Strange!But it does weaken since it can be considered something "out of blue". It does affect the decision because more cost intensive then the purpose cannot be achieved even though it is less polluting.There is an inherent assumption of cost factor here.
D-This strengthens the argument
E-Out of scope

Among the options C seems best but strange!
But don't you think the C talks about the expense, while the argument talks about the environment affect. I can post at least 6-7 question from OG that I remember in which the answer are rejected because the plan was to built the road or something and the answer choice says that it will rain or people will do this and that. In those choices the answer choices are rejected just because it says that our motive is to reduce the environment damage who cares how much it cost.
I would say dodgy question.

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by theCodeToGMAT » Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:45 pm
rakeshd347 wrote: But don't you think the C talks about the expense, while the argument talks about the environment affect. I can post at least 6-7 question from OG that I remember in which the answer are rejected because the plan was to built the road or something and the answer choice says that it will rain or people will do this and that. In those choices the answer choices are rejected just because it says that our motive is to reduce the environment damage who cares how much it cost.
I would say dodgy question.
Rakesh, in CR we don't choose Answer.. we eliminate answer choices :) .. I always keep aside those answer choices which may have even little effect on question.. and then i select the best of them.. Yea, I agree with you that there are some questions which would have similar situation and the answer choice regarding "cost" are wrong.. but in those question, there would be better contenders.
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by vinay1983 » Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:52 pm
rakeshd347 wrote:
vinay1983 wrote:Wind power is less polluting, so EnergyMill turbines have to be used in rural areas. What can weaken this? Something that can say that power transmission efficacy or cost intensive etc etc.What do the options say?

A-We are talking about wind power and not solar power.
B-What does investing have to do with generation of power. One can invest crores of rupees in projects that do not produce enough power.
C-Hmmm, there is quantum jump here. From less polluting power to cost analytics. Strange!But it does weaken since it can be considered something "out of blue". It does affect the decision because more cost intensive then the purpose cannot be achieved even though it is less polluting.There is an inherent assumption of cost factor here.
D-This strengthens the argument
E-Out of scope

Among the options C seems best but strange!
But don't you think the C talks about the expense, while the argument talks about the environment affect. I can post at least 6-7 question from OG that I remember in which the answer are rejected because the plan was to built the road or something and the answer choice says that it will rain or people will do this and that. In those choices the answer choices are rejected just because it says that our motive is to reduce the environment damage who cares how much it cost.
I would say dodgy question.
I agree but the trick with weaken the argument/conclusion is not just a logically or polar opposite thought process, but it can a completely unrelated thing as well. Yes, in this case what you have said is true, but then if you look at the other choices, can you do something with them?I hope not. Even though option C appears unrelated but it is the best bet. You can assume that "cost" is a factor in installing the EnergyMill here, because maybe the C/E ratio is not acceptable to the "installers of the mill".

Frankly i don't think we need so much introspect here. Sometimes we have to go with "gut" feeling. The question though, remains strange to me.
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!

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by rakeshd347 » Fri Oct 04, 2013 11:19 pm
vinay1983 wrote:
rakeshd347 wrote:
vinay1983 wrote:Wind power is less polluting, so EnergyMill turbines have to be used in rural areas. What can weaken this? Something that can say that power transmission efficacy or cost intensive etc etc.What do the options say?

A-We are talking about wind power and not solar power.
B-What does investing have to do with generation of power. One can invest crores of rupees in projects that do not produce enough power.
C-Hmmm, there is quantum jump here. From less polluting power to cost analytics. Strange!But it does weaken since it can be considered something "out of blue". It does affect the decision because more cost intensive then the purpose cannot be achieved even though it is less polluting.There is an inherent assumption of cost factor here.
D-This strengthens the argument
E-Out of scope

Among the options C seems best but strange!
But don't you think the C talks about the expense, while the argument talks about the environment affect. I can post at least 6-7 question from OG that I remember in which the answer are rejected because the plan was to built the road or something and the answer choice says that it will rain or people will do this and that. In those choices the answer choices are rejected just because it says that our motive is to reduce the environment damage who cares how much it cost.
I would say dodgy question.
I agree but the trick with weaken the argument/conclusion is not just a logically or polar opposite thought process, but it can a completely unrelated thing as well. Yes, in this case what you have said is true, but then if you look at the other choices, can you do something with them?I hope not. Even though option C appears unrelated but it is the best bet. You can assume that "cost" is a factor in installing the EnergyMill here, because maybe the C/E ratio is not acceptable to the "installers of the mill".

Frankly i don't think we need so much introspect here. Sometimes we have to go with "gut" feeling. The question though, remains strange to me.
If C is the right answer then there will be lot of assumptions that we have to assume. I Don't know if you remember some mushroom CR question in OG. now this is somewhat same as that one. We are assuming here that people won't buy the expensive electricity. It could be possible the Public is ready to pay higher price for the Green or less polluted energy. Government aim here is to reduce the pollution. It is wrong comparison because government in the argument is arguing that it produces fewest pollutants but here we are comparing it against conventional energy sources. It could be possible that wind power is still cheapest in his category of Green energy.