boldface

Expert replies

jainrahul1985: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 228; Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:08 am; Thanked: 4 times

by jainrahul1985 » Fri Jun 03, 2011 3:59 am

Aroca City currently funds its public schools through taxes on property. In place of this system, the city plans to introduce a sales tax of three percent on all retail sales in the city. Critics protest that three percent of current retail sales falls short of the amount raised for schools by property taxes. The critics are correct on this point. Nevertheless, implementing the plan will probably not reduce the money going to Aroca's schools. Several large retailers have selected Aroca City as the site for huge new stores, and these are certain to draw large numbers of shoppers from neighboring municipalities, where sales are taxed at rates of six percent and more. In consequence, retail sales in Aroca City are bound to increase substantially.

In the argument given, the two potions in boldface play which of the following roles?

A. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that criticism.
B. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that defense.
C. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second is a consideration raised by the argument in support of that criticism.
D. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second presents a consideration that has been raised against that criticism.
E. The first presents a plan whose consequences the argument seeks to evaluate; the second is presented by the argument as one likely consequence that is undesirable.

OA to follow

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Fri Jun 03, 2011 3:59 am

galaxian: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 79; Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:51 amFollowed by: 5 members; Location: Hyderabad, India; Thanked: 8 times

by galaxian » Fri Jun 03, 2011 4:07 am

OA should be D

subhashghosh: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 43; Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:32 am; Thanked: 2 times

by subhashghosh » Fri Jun 03, 2011 5:00 am

I think the answer is B.

cans: Legendary Member; Posts: 1309; Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:34 amFollowed by: 123 members; Location: India; Thanked: 310 times; GMAT Score:750

by cans » Fri Jun 03, 2011 5:36 am

IMO B
first presents a plan that argument supports
eliminating c and d. 2nd supports the 1st part. thus b.

If my post helped you- let me know by pushing the thanks button

Contact me about long distance tutoring!
[email protected]

Cans!!

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Fri Jun 03, 2011 6:41 am

jainrahul1985 wrote:Aroca City currently funds its public schools through taxes on property. In place of this system, the city plans to introduce a sales tax of three percent on all retail sales in the city. Critics protest that three percent of current retail sales falls short of the amount raised for schools by property taxes. The critics are correct on this point. Nevertheless, implementing the plan will probably not reduce the money going to Aroca's schools. Several large retailers have selected Aroca City as the site for huge new stores, and these are certain to draw large numbers of shoppers from neighboring municipalities, where sales are taxed at rates of six percent and more. In consequence, retail sales in Aroca City are bound to increase substantially.

In the argument given, the two potions in boldface play which of the following roles?

A. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that criticism.
B. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that defense.
C. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second is a consideration raised by the argument in support of that criticism.
D. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second presents a consideration that has been raised against that criticism.
E. The first presents a plan whose consequences the argument seeks to evaluate; the second is presented by the argument as one likely consequence that is undesirable.

OA to follow

Conclusion: Nevertheless, implementing the plan will probably not reduce the money going to Aroca's schools.

First bolded phrase:
The city plans to introduce a sales tax of three percent on all retail sales in the city.
The plan itself. Others criticize it; the argument supports it.

Second bolded phrase:
Several large retailers have selected Aroca City as the site for huge new stores, and these are certain to draw large numbers of shoppers from neighboring municipalities. In consequence, retail sales in Aroca City are bound to increase substantially.
Shows why the plan will work and why the critics are wrong.

Match the answers back to the bolded phrases.
Eliminate answers that don't match.

C and D: The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes. No. The argument supports the plan. Eliminate C and D.

E: ...the second is presented by the argument as one likely consequence that is undesirable. No. The second bolded phrase supports the plan. Eliminate E.

A: ...the second gives part of the basis for that criticism of the plan. No. The second bolded phrase supports the plan. Eliminate A.

The correct answer is B.

Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3

Stuart@KaplanGMAT: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3225; Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:40 pmFollowed by: 614 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 1710 times; GMAT Score:800

by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Sat Jun 04, 2011 1:24 pm

jainrahul1985 wrote:Aroca City currently funds its public schools through taxes on property. In place of this system, the city plans to introduce a sales tax of three percent on all retail sales in the city. Critics protest that three percent of current retail sales falls short of the amount raised for schools by property taxes. The critics are correct on this point. Nevertheless, implementing the plan will probably not reduce the money going to Aroca's schools. Several large retailers have selected Aroca City as the site for huge new stores, and these are certain to draw large numbers of shoppers from neighboring municipalities, where sales are taxed at rates of six percent and more. In consequence, retail sales in Aroca City are bound to increase substantially.

In the argument given, the two potions in boldface play which of the following roles?

A. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that criticism.
B. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that defense.
C. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second is a consideration raised by the argument in support of that criticism.
D. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second presents a consideration that has been raised against that criticism.
E. The first presents a plan whose consequences the argument seeks to evaluate; the second is presented by the argument as one likely consequence that is undesirable.

OA to follow

Hi!

A great way to approach bolded statement question is to roadmap the stimulus just as you would a reading comp passage, treating each sentence like a mini-paragraph. Just like reading comp, don't roadmap for content - roadmap for structure. If you have a roadmap of the structure of the stimulus you can make a quick prediction and find the choice that matches.

Let's roadmap this stimulus:

Sentence 1(non bolded): current system
Sentence 2(bolded stmt 1): new plan
Sentence 3(non bolded): criticism of plan
Sentence 4(non bolded): agreement with critics' point
Sentence 5(non bolded): disagreement with critics' conclusion based on point
Sentence 6(bolded stmt 2): reason why author disagrees with criticism of plan
Sentence 7(non bolded): author's conclusion

So, our prediction: first bolded statement is the new plan, second bolded is the reason why the author thinks the critics are wrong.

Only (B) matches our prediction: choose (B)!

Stuart Kovinsky | Kaplan GMAT Faculty | Toronto

Kaplan Exclusive: The Official Test Day Experience | Ready to Take a Free Practice Test? | Kaplan/Beat the GMAT Member Discount
BTG100 for $100 off a full course

chilledlife: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 13; Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 9:27 am; GMAT Score:620

by chilledlife » Sun Jun 05, 2011 12:38 pm

jainrahul1985 wrote:Aroca City currently funds its public schools through taxes on property. In place of this system, the city plans to introduce a sales tax of three percent on all retail sales in the city. Critics protest that three percent of current retail sales falls short of the amount raised for schools by property taxes. The critics are correct on this point. Nevertheless, implementing the plan will probably not reduce the money going to Aroca's schools. Several large retailers have selected Aroca City as the site for huge new stores, and these are certain to draw large numbers of shoppers from neighboring municipalities, where sales are taxed at rates of six percent and more. In consequence, retail sales in Aroca City are bound to increase substantially.

In the argument given, the two potions in boldface play which of the following roles?

A. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that criticism.
B. The first presents a plan that the argument seeks to defend against a certain criticism; the second gives part of the basis for that defense.
C. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second is a consideration raised by the argument in support of that criticism.
D. The first presents a plan that the argument criticizes; the second presents a consideration that has been raised against that criticism.
E. The first presents a plan whose consequences the argument seeks to evaluate; the second is presented by the argument as one likely consequence that is undesirable.

OA to follow

The first boldface is followed by the opinion of the critics. The author does not criticize the plan but supports it by boldface number 2. So we can safely eliminate the statements which say the 'argument criticizes' because it is the critics and not the author who are criticizing the boldface statement 1. Eliminate C & D.

The second boldface is justifying the original plan (first boldface) and strengthening the plan and not criticizing. So the correct answer is B.

GMAT Course Reviews

563 reviews

1168 reviews

431 reviews

359 reviews

147 reviews

5/5

5 Star (563 Reviews)

"Target Test Prep is the closest to the official version of the GMAT exam, about 99% accuracy in terms of the quality and quantity of information. The course has excellently created singular sets of focused lessons and tests for every possible topic that one could come across in the official GMAT exam."

"The TTP course maximizes the efficiency of the time you spend studying. It will take time and effort but I could almost guarantee that if you complete the course exactly as it is laid out you will get an amazing score. They also have a very responsive team willing to help with any questions you might have."

"TTP has two things that I think no other test prep company offers: A teaching approach that reinforces understanding and an attitude that will give you the mental preparedness needed to succeed on the test. TTP gives you a deep understanding of the concept you need to know while teaching you how to think."

Write a Review