In the United States, of the young adults who move from on

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In the United States, of the young adults who move from one state to another to attend college, the percentage who attend college in California has decreased by five percentage points over the past ten years. Since many local businesses in California cater to college students, these declines are likely to have a noticeably negative economic effect on these businesses and therefore on the economy of California.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument given?

A) The number of young adults who moved from one state to another to attend college has increased significantly over the past ten years.

B) Young adults who moved from one state to another to attend college moved a greater distance, on average, last year than such people did ten years ago.

C) Young adults were more likely to move from another state to attend college in New York last year than young adults were ten years ago.

D) The number of young adults who left California to attend college in another state was greater last year than it was ten years ago.

E) California attracts more young adults who move from one state to another to attend college than does any other state.



OA A
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Sat Mar 26, 2016 8:24 am
eitijan wrote:SOurce: Veritas Prep

In the United States, of the young adults who move from one state to another to attend college, the percentage who attend college in California has decreased by five percentage points over the past ten years. Since many local businesses in California cater to college students, these declines are likely to have a noticeably negative economic effect on these businesses and therefore on the economy of California.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument given?

A) The number of young adults who moved from one state to another to attend college has increased significantly over the past ten years.

B) Young adults who moved from one state to another to attend college moved a greater distance, on average, last year than such people did ten years ago.

C) Young adults were more likely to move from another state to attend college in New York last year than young adults were ten years ago.

D) The number of young adults who left California to attend college in another state was greater last year than it was ten years ago.

E) California attracts more young adults who move from one state to another to attend college than does any other state.



OA A
The conclusion: The economy of California will be hurt.
The premise: Of those who move from one state to another to attend college, a smaller percentage are moving to California now than were moving to California ten years ago.

Let's think about this. Say that ten years ago 10% of students moving from state to state were moving to California. Now 5% of students moving state are moving to California. Does that mean that the absolute number of students moving to California for school has declined? Not necessarily. What if ten years ago, 10,000 students moved from one state to another for school, and 10% went to CA. That's 1000 students. Today, if, say, 50,000 students were moving from one state to another, and 5% were coming to CA, that would be 2500 students. So the economy wouldn't be hurt! In other words, if the total number of students moving from state to state has gone up significantly, then the smaller percentage moving to CA doesn't necessarily mean that fewer students are moving to CA. This is the idea captured in A
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