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Expert replies
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
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by galaxian » Fri Jun 03, 2011 4:07 am
OA should be D
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by subhashghosh » Fri Jun 03, 2011 5:00 am
I think the answer is B.
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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.
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Cans!!
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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.
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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)!
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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.
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