Difficult MGMAT Q - Televisions.

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Difficult MGMAT Q - Televisions.

by vivek1110 » Thu Jul 01, 2010 1:40 am
For the first time in history, more televisions than people can be found in American households. According to recent research, the average household has 2.55 residents and contains 2.73 televisions. However, by employing such costly manufacturing processes as plasma technology and flat screens, televisions are becoming too expensive for the typical consumer. As a result, the average number of residents per household will again surpass the number of televisions.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the argument above?


A:House parties at which numerous individuals gather to view popular television shows on one television set have increased three hundred percent during the past year.


B: More than one million legal immigrants enter the United States each year.


C: New devices such as video-enabled personal digital assistants and music players are increasingly purchased for use as a primary source of information and entertainment.


D: As new technologies become more commonplace, manufacturing and retail costs normally decline.


E: As a result of technological advances, new televisions are increasingly enabled with some features, such as Internet browsing, traditionally associated with other household devices.
Is caught between a rock and a hard place!
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by kvcpk » Thu Jul 01, 2010 1:48 am
IMO C

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by dream700 » Thu Jul 01, 2010 2:13 am
IMO it's D...

D explains to us that, how it is costly for the customer to buy new TV sets now and how coomonplace of the tech helps to reduce the prices...

OA plz...

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by ashish2104 » Thu Jul 01, 2010 2:16 am
IMO C.

A:House parties at which numerous individuals gather to view popular television shows on one television set have increased three hundred percent during the past year. --> House parties scenario does not help to figure if number of people > number of televisions.


B: More than one million legal immigrants enter the United States each year. --> this only indicates increase in number of people in US


C: New devices such as video-enabled personal digital assistants and music players are increasingly purchased for use as a primary source of information and entertainment. --> Corretly identifies that other alternatives are popular and hence, Televisions numbers will decrease. If televisions number decrease, but population continues to rise, this scenario is possible.


D: As new technologies become more commonplace, manufacturing and retail costs normally decline. --> out of scope


E: As a result of technological advances, new televisions are increasingly enabled with some features, such as Internet browsing, traditionally associated with other household devices.-->out of scope

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by jube » Thu Jul 01, 2010 2:19 am
Vivek, thanks for posting this one! I had a couple of questions concerning this particular question in case anyone could help out.

OA for this one is C.

My questions:

1. For option B - if the no. of legal immigrants increase, won't that lead to an increase in the average number of residents per household as well?
2. Can someone help me understand how C is the right answer? Even if television ceases to be the primary source for info. etc., it will not lead to a disposal of the televisions already existing. So even if the number of televisions goes down in the future as this option suggests, the average no. of televisions per household is not going to decrease unless there is an increase in the no. of people -- can someone help me understand what's the flaw in my reasoning?

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by dream700 » Thu Jul 01, 2010 2:23 am
guys, i have a strong doubt on C...

"C)New devices such as video-enabled personal digital assistants and music players are increasingly purchased for use as a primary source of information and entertainment"

at no point of time it is telling us that purchasing of televisions is going down? if it would hv used that these appliances are preferred over televisions then it would be a different case...

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by pradeepkaushal9518 » Thu Jul 01, 2010 2:31 am
imo D is correct answer

C cant be the answer .

can somebody say which music player is used to collect information and which video enabled digital assistant source of information. they cant broadcast BBC or news or discovery channel etc.

i strongly object for option C even if its oa doesnt matter.

what is the source?

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by kvcpk » Thu Jul 01, 2010 2:51 am
pradeepkaushal9518 wrote:
can somebody say which music player is used to collect information and which video enabled digital assistant source of information. they cant broadcast BBC or news or discovery channel etc.
Truthfulness Vs Validity.
Let me explain as per what I read in powerscore:

Always choose only validity of the argument. Never go with truthfulness.. If the author says donkey dances.. it dances.. thats it..

here the author is saying that "New devices such as video-enabled personal digital assistants and music players are increasingly purchased for use as a primary source of information and entertainment. "

We need to check if this is a valid one as per the argument above. But shouldnt check the truthfulness.

Hope this helps!!

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by 786 » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:41 am
I will go with C too .

OA please !

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by outreach » Thu Jul 01, 2010 10:31 am
i feel the answer should be A
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by ansh.kumar » Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:11 pm
my pick is { C },
D says= , (if the new technologies become more commonplace, manufacturing and retail costs normally decline,
in D )i believe then it could be possible that television will comprise of this new technology , as a result of declining costs the cost of television will also decline and more people will purchase television.
*A* cant be the answer, ( SUPPOSE IF A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IS SITTING IN A CINEMA HALL IT DOESN"T MEAN THEY DONT HAV A TELEVISION AT THEIR HOME).
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by adi_800 » Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:33 am
I doubt about the OA.. This one is from MGMAT course material...
What if the new devices are coming as a source of info. and entertainment...That is not gonna decrease the current (existing) number of television.
D.. I would say..If the prices are gonna decrease, then the number of TVs that will be brought will increase and then the ratio would be same or more..... This would kinda weaken the argument...

A is out of scope...
B can be a contender... But even if C is the OA, I dont think it is convincing...

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by gmatmachoman » Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:36 am
pradeepkaushal9518 wrote:imo D is correct answer

C cant be the answer .

can somebody say which music player is used to collect information and which video enabled digital assistant source of information. they cant broadcast BBC or news or discovery channel etc.

i strongly object for option C even if its oa doesnt matter.

what is the source?
Pradeep, Plz note the stem clearly stats " assume if true".

AGreed, C has loopholes.

1. No where it is mentioned TV is used as a primary source of information and entertainment.
2." Increasingly purchased" is a vague term. May be that they were buying 100 and now 200 pieces. So a 100% jump. Does that mean the numbers are also increasing??


Even B also can't be answer...!!

IMO pick F!

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by reply2spg » Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:50 pm
I made a mistake and choose A. Actually C is correct here. This is kind of casual relationship. How?

As per the passage TV prices will increasing (X) and the average number of residents per household will again surpass the number of televisions (Z)

It means that X is leading to Z. we need to insert Y which will strengthen Z. What it might be? What if other machines become primary source of information? Same information is provided in C

New devices such as video-enabled personal digital assistants and music players are increasingly purchased for use as a primary source of information and entertainment. (Y)

Here X leads to Z as well as Y leads to Z. Therefore, C is the answer.
vivek1110 wrote:For the first time in history, more televisions than people can be found in American households. According to recent research, the average household has 2.55 residents and contains 2.73 televisions. However, by employing such costly manufacturing processes as plasma technology and flat screens, televisions are becoming too expensive for the typical consumer. As a result, the average number of residents per household will again surpass the number of televisions.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the argument above?


A:House parties at which numerous individuals gather to view popular television shows on one television set have increased three hundred percent during the past year.


B: More than one million legal immigrants enter the United States each year.


C: New devices such as video-enabled personal digital assistants and music players are increasingly purchased for use as a primary source of information and entertainment.


D: As new technologies become more commonplace, manufacturing and retail costs normally decline.


E: As a result of technological advances, new televisions are increasingly enabled with some features, such as Internet browsing, traditionally associated with other household devices.
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