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Airborne Mold Spores

by imskpwr » Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:33 am
Every year many people become ill because of airborne mold spores in their homes. After someone becomes ill, specialists are often hired to eradicate the mold. These specialists look in damp areas of the house, since mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture. If one wishes to avoid mold poisoning, then, one should make sure to keep all internal plumbing in good condition to prevent leakage that could serve as a breeding ground for mold.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

a. Mold itself does not create moisture.
b. Most homeowners know enough about plumbing to determine whether theirs is in good condition.
c. Mold cannot grow in dry areas.
d. No varieties of mold are harmless.
e. Mold spores cannot be filtered from the air.

It's from MGMAT-2. Even though, I picked c in the exam, I later found that a is correct and I have no doubt in it. But, I picked c to prove below-mentioned assertion wrong.
"These specialists look in damp areas of the house, since mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture".

Please tell me why c is unacceptable as an assumption or else how I can change my thought process.
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by GmatKiss » Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:52 am
imskpwr wrote:Every year many people become ill because of airborne mold spores in their homes. After someone becomes ill, specialists are often hired to eradicate the mold. These specialists look in damp areas of the house, since mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture. If one wishes to avoid mold poisoning, then, one should make sure to keep all internal plumbing in good condition to prevent leakage that could serve as a breeding ground for mold.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

a. Mold itself does not create moisture.
b. Most homeowners know enough about plumbing to determine whether theirs is in good condition.
c. Mold cannot grow in dry areas.
d. No varieties of mold are harmless.
e. Mold spores cannot be filtered from the air.

IMO: A/B, A far better than B
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by Thiagaraj » Sun Mar 11, 2012 3:44 pm
Option C is out because it states what is there already. "since mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture." which means mold is not found in dry areas. (I think)
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by shekhar.kataria » Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:21 pm
C is an extreme Answer choice as it uses an extreme word CANNOT. Note that the stimulus says "ALMOST ALWAYS" which does not mean 100% but anything less than that.


imskpwr wrote:Every year many people become ill because of airborne mold spores in their homes. After someone becomes ill, specialists are often hired to eradicate the mold. These specialists look in damp areas of the house, since mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture. If one wishes to avoid mold poisoning, then, one should make sure to keep all internal plumbing in good condition to prevent leakage that could serve as a breeding ground for mold.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

a. Mold itself does not create moisture.
b. Most homeowners know enough about plumbing to determine whether theirs is in good condition.
c. Mold cannot grow in dry areas.
d. No varieties of mold are harmless.
e. Mold spores cannot be filtered from the air.

It's from MGMAT-2. Even though, I picked c in the exam, I later found that a is correct and I have no doubt in it. But, I picked c to prove below-mentioned assertion wrong.
"These specialists look in damp areas of the house, since mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture".

Please tell me why c is unacceptable as an assumption or else how I can change my thought process.
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by imskpwr » Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:08 am
shekhar.kataria wrote:C is an extreme Answer choice as it uses an extreme word CANNOT. Note that the stimulus says "ALMOST ALWAYS" which does not mean 100% but anything less than that.

Thanks!
Some more issues I have found in my thought-process.
1) Is it always the main conclusion whose underlying assumption is important?
Is underlying assumption in a claim(which is premise for main conclusion) is not valid as an Assumption?

2)A lot of books and instructors say about Active reading. Normally, I am an active reader. But, during exam all my active reading reduces to almost zero. It makes me susceptible to a lot of silly mistakes.

Hope to get some help on these issues, also.
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by shekhar.kataria » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:08 pm
Some more issues I have found in my thought-process.
1) Is it always the main conclusion whose underlying assumption is important?
Yes,

Is underlying assumption in a claim(which is premise for main conclusion) is not valid as an Assumption?
Yes, if this is case then this acts as a supportor.


Here you have to understand the difference between a SUPPORTER and an ASSUMPTION.

ASSUMPTION:- Something that is necessary for the argument's conclusion to stand. USE NEGATION RULE IN THE ASSUMPTION QUESTIONS. It is always helpful.

SUPPOTER :- Anything that adds more to the argument either by making premise stronger or by conclusion.

HPH
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by vikram4689 » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:33 pm
"These specialists look in damp areas of the house, since mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture".

Since mold are present in damp areas this does not mean they cannot grow in dry areas. What if they grow in damp and then damp the area that were dry earlier. This is a Cause and Effect Error type which GMAT loves.
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:47 am
imskpwr wrote:Every year many people become ill because of airborne mold spores in their homes. After someone becomes ill, specialists are often hired to eradicate the mold. These specialists look in damp areas of the house, since mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture. If one wishes to avoid mold poisoning, then, one should make sure to keep all internal plumbing in good condition to prevent leakage that could serve as a breeding ground for mold.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

a. Mold itself does not create moisture.
b. Most homeowners know enough about plumbing to determine whether theirs is in good condition.
c. Mold cannot grow in dry areas.
d. No varieties of mold are harmless.
e. Mold spores cannot be filtered from the air.

It's from MGMAT-2. Even though, I picked c in the exam, I later found that a is correct and I have no doubt in it. But, I picked c to prove below-mentioned assertion wrong.
"These specialists look in damp areas of the house, since mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture".

Please tell me why c is unacceptable as an assumption or else how I can change my thought process.
From the passage: Mold is almost always found in places where there is substantial moisture.
This statement is a PREMISE: a fact not in dispute.
ALMOST ALWAYS means NOT ALWAYS.
Thus, the passage states -- as a FACT -- that mold is NOT ALWAYS found in areas where there is substantial moisture.
In other words, mold CAN be found in dry areas.
Answer choice C seems to refute this premise.
The correct answer to a CR can NEVER refute a premise.

The CR above assumes a CAUSAL relationship.
In a causal argument, X and Y are observed together, and the passage concludes that X causes Y.

For a causal argument to be valid:
1) It must be true that there was NO OTHER CAUSE.
2) It must be true that Y DIDN'T CAUSE X.
These are the two primary assumptions.

In the passage above, moisture and mold are observed together, and the argument concludes that MOISTURE CAUSES MOLD.
For this conclusion to be valid:
1) It must be true that SOMETHING ELSE isn't causing the mold.
2) It must be true that MOLD DOESN'T CAUSE MOISTURE.
Answer choice A gives us assumption #2:
The argument assumes that mold itself does not create moisture.

The correct answer is A.
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