Eastern Europe

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 208
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:32 am
Location: Mumbai
Thanked: 2 times

Eastern Europe

by vikram_k51 » Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:07 am
Recently, highly skilled workers in Eastern Europe have left jobs in record numbers to emigrate to the West. It is therefore likely that skilled workers who remain in Eastern Europe are in high demand in their home countries.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) Eastern European factories prefer to hire workers from their home countries rather than to import workers from abroad.
(B) Major changes in Eastern European economic structures have led to the elimination of many positions previously held by the highly skilled emigrants.
(C) Many Eastern European emigrants need to acquire new skills after finding work in the West.
(D) Eastern European countries plan to train many new workers to replace the highly skilled workers who have emigrated.
(E) Because of the departure of skilled workers from Eastern European countries, many positions are now unfilled.
OA B
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

Legendary Member
Posts: 1161
Joined: Mon May 12, 2008 2:52 am
Location: Sydney
Thanked: 23 times
Followed by:1 members

by mehravikas » Wed Aug 19, 2009 5:54 pm
(A) Eastern European factories prefer to hire workers from their home countries rather than to import workers from abroad. - Strengthens the argument
(B) Major changes in Eastern European economic structures have led to the elimination of many positions previously held by the highly skilled emigrants. - Points out the issue that highly skilled workers have left because there are not many positions left
(C) Many Eastern European emigrants need to acquire new skills after finding work in the West. - Irrelevant info
(D) Eastern European countries plan to train many new workers to replace the highly skilled workers who have emigrated. - Strengthens the argument
(E) Because of the departure of skilled workers from Eastern European countries, many positions are now unfilled. - Strengthens the argument

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 224
Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 2:44 pm
Location: Russia, Moscow
Thanked: 10 times
GMAT Score:730

by ranell » Thu Aug 20, 2009 1:34 pm
The explanation is given below. Hope it helps. :D

(A) It supports rather than weakens the argument

(B) CORRECT because if many of the positions held by highly skilled emigrants were eliminated, it is likely that the workers who remain in the Eastern Europe will not be able to find adequate job

(C) It is out of scope in the argument

(D) If these countries plan to train many new workers, it means that there is no demand for the workers who remained in their mother country or their skills are not suitable to the job requirements

(E) If many positions are now unfilled, this means that skilled workers who remained in Eastern Europe aren't in high demand in their home countries