Assumption question

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mba_aspirant911: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 13; Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:30 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by mba_aspirant911 » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:39 pm

40. Marian Anderson, the famous contralto, did not take success for granted. We know this
because Anderson had to struggle early in life, and anyone who has to struggle early in life is
able to keep a good perspective on the world. The conclusion of the argument follows
logically if which one of the following is assumed?
a) Anyone who succeeds takes success for granted.
b) Anyone who is able to keep a good perspective on the world does not take success for
granted.
c) Anyone who is able to keep a good perspective on the world has to struggle early in life.
d) Anyone who does not take success for granted has to struggle early in life.
e) Anyone who does not take success for granted is able to keep a good perspective on the
world.

OA B

Why would E not be a correct assumption? I understand it is the reverse condition of B.

Based on the given information, if one does not take success for granted, then it follows that one must be able to keep a good perspective on the world.

What is wrong with this reasoning?

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:39 pm

waltz2salsa: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 28; Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:19 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by waltz2salsa » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:57 pm

Let's see if this explains a lengthy solution in three lines:

Let struggle early in life : SEL, success for granted: SFG, and good perspective: GP

Given: SEL --> GP ---> not(SFG)

'b' quotes the second part i.e. GP ---> not(SFG)...

while 'e' is a mistaken reversal of the above statement. The correct contrapositive is SFG ---> not(GP)

Hope this helps.

David@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2193; Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pmFollowed by: 512 members; Location: Vermont and Boston, MA; Thanked: 1186 times; GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:26 pm

This is a type of question that does not have an exact match on the GMAT. This is a type on the LSAT and what we are looking for is an answer that GUARANTEES the conclusion. The word "assumed" is ignored if it can be replaced by "true." On the official GMAT the word assumed always means an assumption.

But this question says, "The conclusion of the argument follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?" So what would guarantee the conclusion?

The conclusion is that Marian Anderson, the famous contralto, did not take success for granted. What is are evidence that success is not taken for granted? We know that Anderson has struggled and so keeps a good perspective on the world. Now, we know that she has a good perspective and from this we need to be able to conclude that she does not take success for granted. This is precisely what B states.

So this is an interesting one to do, but not a type on the official GMAT.

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mba_aspirant911: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 13; Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:30 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by mba_aspirant911 » Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:13 pm

Thanks Dave!

I have found a very good logic guide for anyone that's interested. Again, it is used for mainly LSAT questions, but useful for any conditional statements on the GMAT as well.

https://www.top-law-schools.com/conditio ... oning.html

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