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by kaulnikhil » Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:07 am
Accountant: The local zoo's revenue from admissions fees for this year was lower than it has been for the last several years. This year, the zoo shortened its hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is likely, therefore, that the zoo's decreased revenue from admissions fees this year is due to the shortened hours of operation.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the accountant's argument?

(A) No customer that arrived to the zoo this year between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. was refused admission.
(B) The amount of time it takes to buy an admission ticket for the zoo has increased in recent years.
(C) The zoo has increased the number of animal species available for visitors to see.
(D) In addition to new hours of operation, this year, the zoo closed for maintenance during several days on which it had remained open in previous years.
(E) A recent report on changes in the popularity of different types of entertainment shows that the popularity of zoos has declined significantly in the last year.
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by asamaverick » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:36 am
IMO it should be D.

The accountant argues that the decreased revenue is due to the shortened hours of operation. D states that in addition to the shortened hours the zoo was closed for maintenance for several days. It is possible that these closed days contributed to the loss of revenue and hence undermines the accountant's argument.
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by hardik.jadeja » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:36 am
IMO E.

Since it provides alternate reasoning for the decline in revenues.
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by jube » Mon Jun 14, 2010 6:09 am
D

What's the OA?
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by missionGMAT007 » Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:18 am
IMO D
It rightly explains another cause for the effect.
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by Rich@VeritasPrep » Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:37 am
E is a tempting answer here, but ultimately, it is incorrect, because its scope is too broad. We are most interested in what happened at the zoo in question, not at other zoos.

The accountant's argument draws a conclusion about one particular zoo, and thus the strongest weakener will address this zoo alone. You might argue that E could possibly weaken revenue at this zoo, but notice that the question asks which answer choice MOST SERIOUSLY undermines the argument.

For that reason, D is correct. It states that the zoo was closed for several days, and thus it is a much stronger weakener, because it addresses the particular zoo to which the accountant is referring.

And yes, as several of you pointed out, the weakener involves an alternate cause.
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by nazar7ft » Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:55 am
kaulnikhil wrote:Accountant: The local zoo's revenue from admissions fees for this year was lower than it has been for the last several years. This year, the zoo shortened its hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is likely, therefore, that the zoo's decreased revenue from admissions fees this year is due to the shortened hours of operation.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the accountant's argument?

(A) No customer that arrived to the zoo this year between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. was refused admission.
(B) The amount of time it takes to buy an admission ticket for the zoo has increased in recent years.
(C) The zoo has increased the number of animal species available for visitors to see.
(D) In addition to new hours of operation, this year, the zoo closed for maintenance during several days on which it had remained open in previous years.
(E) A recent report on changes in the popularity of different types of entertainment shows that the popularity of zoos has declined significantly in the last year.
Conclusion:=> Zoo's decreased revenue from admission fees this year is due to the shortened hours of operation.

How to weaken the conclusion?
=> We should look for any other cause for the deceased revenue. If there is something that caused the decrease in revenue, that will be the answer.

Answer is D because this is the only option that can not be denied.

Another contender E, as other posters have said, can be denied. In E, it has been said that the popularity of zoos has declined. May be the list of zoos whose popularity have declined does not include the said zoo. If one argues in this way, how can the option E counter to this argument? So, E is out.
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by kaulnikhil » Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:31 pm
raz1024 wrote:E is a tempting answer here, but ultimately, it is incorrect, because its scope is too broad. We are most interested in what happened at the zoo in question, not at other zoos.

The accountant's argument draws a conclusion about one particular zoo, and thus the strongest weakener will address this zoo alone. You might argue that E could possibly weaken revenue at this zoo, but notice that the question asks which answer choice MOST SERIOUSLY undermines the argument.

For that reason, D is correct. It states that the zoo was closed for several days, and thus it is a much stronger weakener, because it addresses the particular zoo to which the accountant is referring.

And yes, as several of you pointed out, the weakener involves an alternate cause.
HI raz1024
. I encountered this question in KNEWTON practice test . However The OA is E
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by josh@knewton » Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:11 pm
This is an interesting one.

We actually changed "shortened" to "fewer" in our materials and now the answer is definitively E.

Scandal! Intrigue!
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https://www.knewton.com
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by tanviet » Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:54 am
I think both D and E are weakener and the question is wrong

In the causal arguement, there maybe another cause which is responsible for the effect. The "GMAT ciritical reasoning bible" book and KAPLAN book said that if the other cause can increase doubt much or little, the cause is enough to be an weakener. So, we can not say that E is more correct than D because E increase more doubt than D.
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