CR Strategy

This topic has expert replies
Legendary Member
Posts: 2330
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 am
Thanked: 56 times
Followed by:26 members

CR Strategy

by mundasingh123 » Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:01 am
Experts say that CR is generally a test of Lateral Thinking . But using Lateral thinking , we could justify more than 1 answer choice on the GMAT .
I have solved many OG CRs and i have noticed that many of them , generally the Assumption, Strengthen and Weaken questions, a lot of Lateral thinking has been used . The information given in the answer choices has been used along with outside information to affect the argument .
I am now confused whether i should stick to the information given in the answer choices or think laterally
The following CR is a case in point


Outsourcing is the practice of obtaining from an independent supplier a product or service that a company has previously provided for itself. Since a company's chief objective is to realize the highest possible year-end profits,any product or service that can be obtained from an independent supplier for less than it would cost the ompany to provide the product or service on its own should be outsourced. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) If a company decides to use independent suppliers for a product, it can generally exploit the vigorous competition arising among several firms that are interested in supplying that product.
(B) Successful outsourcing requires a company to provide its suppliers with information about its products and plans that can fall into the hands of its competitors and give them a business advantage.
(C) Certain tasks, such as processing a company's payroll, are commonly outsourced, whereas others, such as handling the company's core business, are not.
(D) For a company to provide a product or service for itself as efficiently as an independent supplier can provide it, the managers involved need to be as expert in the area of that product or service as the people in charge of that product or service at an independent supplier are.
(E) When a company decides to sue an independent supplier for a product or service, the independent supplier sometimes hires members of the company's staff who formerly made the product or provided the service that the independent supplier now supplies.

Another CR @
https://www.beatthegmat.com/gortland-rep ... tml#393864
I Seek Explanations Not Answers
Source: — GMAT Strategy |

Legendary Member
Posts: 2330
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 am
Thanked: 56 times
Followed by:26 members

by mundasingh123 » Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:29 am
Another CR
Journalist: In physics journals, the number of articles reporting the results of experiments involving particle accelerators was lower last year than it had been in previous years. Several of the particle accelerators at major research institutions were out of service the year before last for repairs, so it is likely that the low number of articles was due to the decline in availability of particle accelerators.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the journalist's argument?
(A) Every article based on experiments with particle accelerators that was submitted for publication last year actually was published.
(B) The average time scientists must wait for access to a particle accelerator has declined over the last several years.
(C) The number of physics journals was the same last year as in previous years.
(D) Particle accelerators can be used for more than one group of experiments in any given year.
(E) Recent changes in the editorial policies of several physics journals have decreased the likelihood that articles concerning particle-accelerator research will be accepted for publication.

Dont B amd D eliminate the problem that a lack of enough particle accelerators has created
I Seek Explanations Not Answers

Legendary Member
Posts: 2330
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 am
Thanked: 56 times
Followed by:26 members

by mundasingh123 » Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:41 am
Final CR
An eyeglass manufacturer tried to boost sales for the summer quarter by offering its distributors a special
discount if their orders for that quarter exceeded those for last year's summer quarter by at least 20 percent.
Many distributors qualified for this discount. Even with much merchandise discounted, sales increased enough to produce a healthy gain in net profits. The manufacturer plans to repeat this success by offering the same sort of discount for the fall quarter.
Which of the following, if true, most clearly points to a flaw in the manufacturer's plan to repeat the successful performance of the summer quarter?

(A) In general, a distributor's orders for the summer quarter are no higher than those for the spring quarter.
(B) Along with offering special discounts to qualifying distributors, the manufacturer increased newspaper and radio advertising in those distributors' sales areas.
(C) The distributors most likely to qualify for the manufacturer's special discount are those whose orders were unusually low a year earlier.
(D) The distributors how qualified for the manufacturer's special discount were free to decide how much of that discount to pass on to their own customers.
(E) The distributors' ordering more goods in the summer quarter left them overstocked for the fall quarter.

Here my lateral thinking does more harm than good
In C , if the distributors increased their orders by 20% this summer , they may have now reached normal sales and it may not be possible for them to further increase their orders by 20% in the Fall
I Seek Explanations Not Answers