CR question

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CR question

by vinayjain » Sat Aug 05, 2006 3:59 am
Company X spokesperson: Although several of our key managerial employees have left our company since we merged with our leading competitor two months ago, we have no reason to believe that a significant number of our other employees will follow suit. Virtually all of Company X's current employees are the same people who we employed prior to the merger, and our employee-relations department is making every effort to ensure that these employees are content here.

Which of the following, if true, would tend to support most effectively the spokesperson's prediction in the argument above?



a. The employees who left Company X since the merger did so because they received more attractive employment offers from other firms.

b. Worsening economic conditions may force Company X to reduce the size of its workforce in the near future.

c. Company X has just hired a highly respected consultant who specializes in employee relations.

d. None of the employees who worked for the company that has merged with Company X have left voluntarily.

e. Most companies lose some workers to other firms as a result of a merger, but the number of workers lost is usually insignificant.






Last year, two drownings occurred at Lake Serene, so this year the lake's owner added one more lifeguard to the lakefront staff. No drownings have occurred at the lake this year. However, the new lifeguard has been home with the flu for nearly half the summer, so it appears that the new lifeguard was not needed after all.

Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the argument above?



a. This year, the lake's owner posted a warning about swimming without a lifeguard present.

b. Drowning is not the lake owner's only safety concern.

c. The lake has been equally crowded with swimmers this year as last year.

d. Lake activities are safer in the presence of lifeguards.

e. The new lifeguard has never saved a person from drowning.



What do u think the answers are guyz
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by dblazquez » Sat Aug 05, 2006 4:22 am
1) the merger: D is saying that the people who have left were doing it forced

a - supports but out of scope
b - does not support
c - supports but out of scope
e - supports but out of scope

2) drownings - A (by POE, but I am not very convinced)

the conclusion says that just because the lifeguard was sick half the summer, his presence has been worthless

b - out of scope
c - does not damage
d - does not damage (half of the time there is no lifeguard present)
e - does not damage

which are the OA, vinayjain?

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answer

by vinayjain » Sat Aug 05, 2006 9:15 am
hi dblazquez,
the answer for the first one is (E) and for the second one is (C).i cn figure out the first one but the second ones explanation does nt convince me so much.i wud have gone fr (A) too


first:
since companies in mergers do end up losing an insignificant number of employees .X is no diff and will lose some but no more.


second:
If the number of swimmers is same as last year it removes a plausible argument that swimmers were fewer in the present year and tht waz the reason fewer drownings occured. IT SEEMS this leads us to conclude that the lifeguard did indeed help.

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by dblazquez » Sat Aug 05, 2006 12:56 pm
Pfff! okay thanks!
we will have to listen to the OA somehow makes sense too ;)
which is the source of the questions? OG/Gmatprep?

daniel

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Don't always agree with the CR's logic

by bensanderson » Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:19 pm
The first question is fairly straight-foward. Unlike the wrong answers, the correct answer is directly relevant to the situation of company X--usually mergers cause a few defections but nothing to worry about in the long term.

Last year, two drownings occurred at Lake Serene, so this year the lake's owner added one more lifeguard to the lakefront staff. No drownings have occurred at the lake this year. However, the new lifeguard has been home with the flu for nearly half the summer, so it appears that the new lifeguard was not needed after all.

Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the argument above?



The second question is a little tricker. You have to be careful not to think too much about the fact that one of the lifeguards was sick for nearly half the summer. Perhaps it was a bad idea or unlucky to hire that life guard in particular but the reasoning behind hiring a second lifeguard remains very strong. And the reason behind the hiring becomes even stronger if we know that the lake is just as crowded as last year. If it is just as crowded, they certainly need a second life guard. The answer is C.

C is clearly the answer if we turn the CR passage around and argue against it. The fact is: there were no drownings this year and that could be the direct or indirect result of there having been a second lifeguard at the lake for MORE than half the summer. The only reason that might call into question the effectiveness of the second lifeguard would be if there were far fewer swimmers than last year. The a second guard would be pointless. However answer C tells that the numbers are the same. Therefore, it was right to hire the second lifeguard.

There is some flawed logic in this CR passage and we don't need to agree with its train of thought (the CR's logic: since the lifeguard was sick for half the summer and there were still no drownings, he was not needed in the first place) behind the conclusion that the lifeguard was not needed. Try to be critical of the CR passage, especially since we are looking for a damaging statement. Try not to be critcial of the answer choices in this case. Be critical of the CR passage for these questions and then pick the answer that fits with your criticisms.

We can't fall into the trap of agreeing with the faulty logic of a CR passage and then finding the answer that disagrees with it because in our minds it is much easier to find a statement that agrees rather than disagrees with our conclusions. This is because we try to "fit" wrong answers to our conclusions. It is easier to find a fault in the passage and find the answer that supports your criticism.

Hope that makes sense. if you are still reading, you are dedicated and I am sure you will do well on CRs.
good luck!

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by arora007 » Sat Jun 19, 2010 10:06 pm
dblazquez wrote:Pfff! okay thanks!
we will have to listen to the OA somehow makes sense too ;)
which is the source of the questions? OG/Gmatprep?

daniel
daniel the source is Peterson master GMAT
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