BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

editorial cannot be a good

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
User avatar
Community Manager
Posts: 1048
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2009 3:26 am
Location: India
Thanked: 51 times
Followed by:27 members
GMAT Score:670

editorial cannot be a good

by arora007 » Fri Feb 11, 2011 8:54 am
This editorial cannot be a good argument because it is barely literate. Run-on sentences, slang, and perfectly dreadful grammar appear regularly throughout. Anything that poorly written cannot be making very much sense.

Which of the following identifies an assumption in the argument above?

A) This editorial was written by someone other than the usual editor.
B) Generally speaking, very few editorials are poor in style or grammar.
C) The language of an argument is indicative of its validity.
D) Generally speaking, the majority of editorials are poor in style and grammar.
E) The author of the editorial purposely uses poor grammar to disguise what he knows is a bad argument.

[spoiler] I dont believe the answer could be C how can somebody link nonsensical with validity? Anyways this indeed was the best choice. [/spoiler]
https://www.skiponemeal.org/
https://twitter.com/skiponemeal
Few things are impossible to diligence & skill.Great works are performed not by strength,but by perseverance

pm me if you find junk/spam/abusive language, Lets keep our community clean!!
Top
Source: — Critical Reasoning |
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1255
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:08 pm
Location: St. Louis
Thanked: 312 times
Followed by:90 members

by Tani » Fri Feb 11, 2011 9:41 am
The stimulus tells us the argument is bad. The evidence is that the grammar is bad. Therefore the author is judging the argument based on its grammar.

The question is not whether it makes sense to judge an argument on its grammar, the question is whether in fact the author judged the argument on its grammar - and he did.
Tani Wolff
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 208
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2010 3:10 pm
Thanked: 20 times
Followed by:2 members

by hja379 » Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:36 am
arora007 wrote:This editorial cannot be a good argument because it is barely literate. Run-on sentences, slang, and perfectly dreadful grammar appear regularly throughout. Anything that poorly written cannot be making very much sense.

Which of the following identifies an assumption in the argument above?

A) This editorial was written by someone other than the usual editor.
B) Generally speaking, very few editorials are poor in style or grammar.
C) The language of an argument is indicative of its validity.
D) Generally speaking, the majority of editorials are poor in style and grammar.
E) The author of the editorial purposely uses poor grammar to disguise what he knows is a bad argument.
Choice A: 'Someone' is irrelevant for the argument.
Choice B: Doesn't matter if 10% or the editorials are bad or 100%. Any material written poorly is not good.
Choice D: Same reason as B.
Choice E: The author can do whatever he want. He may be so sick of writing and now probably preparing for GMAT and focusing on AWA instead of his editorials.
Choice C: If the language of the argument is NOT indicative of its validity, then you CANNOT make a conclusion that "poorly written material cannot make any sense."

What if we make this a 'weaken' question?
Which of the following if true would weaken the author's claim?
H) There have been editorials, inspite of their grammatical errors, were considered masterpieces because of their content and logic.

Not to confuse you, but if there exists another reason (in other words, if you negate choice C above) it would weaken the conclusion and if style is the only indicator (Choice C), it must be the assumption.
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 2330
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 am
Thanked: 56 times
Followed by:26 members

by mundasingh123 » Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:50 am
@arora
I think u have mistaken language of argument for the relevance/substance/sense whereas the option really refers to the grammar
I Seek Explanations Not Answers
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1255
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:08 pm
Location: St. Louis
Thanked: 312 times
Followed by:90 members

by Tani » Fri Feb 11, 2011 11:03 am
Exactly! Remember, you are only evaluating the form of the argument, not whether the author is an idiot! :-)
Tani Wolff
Top
User avatar
Community Manager
Posts: 1048
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2009 3:26 am
Location: India
Thanked: 51 times
Followed by:27 members
GMAT Score:670

by arora007 » Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:32 am
Tani Wolff - Kaplan wrote:The stimulus tells us the argument is bad. The evidence is that the grammar is bad. Therefore the author is judging the argument based on its grammar.
I now see how the assumption bridges the gap between the two.
https://www.skiponemeal.org/
https://twitter.com/skiponemeal
Few things are impossible to diligence & skill.Great works are performed not by strength,but by perseverance

pm me if you find junk/spam/abusive language, Lets keep our community clean!!
Top
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:45 am
Thanked: 2 times
GMAT Score:710

by maddy2u » Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:27 pm
C it is
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 152
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:36 pm
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:2 members

by artistocrat » Sun Apr 03, 2011 5:59 pm
arora007 wrote:This editorial cannot be a good argument because it is barely literate. Run-on sentences, slang, and perfectly dreadful grammar appear regularly throughout. Anything that poorly written cannot be making very much sense.

Which of the following identifies an assumption in the argument above?

A) This editorial was written by someone other than the usual editor.
B) Generally speaking, very few editorials are poor in style or grammar.
C) The language of an argument is indicative of its validity.
D) Generally speaking, the majority of editorials are poor in style and grammar.
E) The author of the editorial purposely uses poor grammar to disguise what he knows is a bad argument.

[spoiler] I dont believe the answer could be C how can somebody link nonsensical with validity? Anyways this indeed was the best choice. [/spoiler]
Use the negation test for assumptions.
A)This editorial was NOT written by someone other than the usual editor. Makes no difference; arguement can still be true.
B) Generally speaking, very few editorials are NOT poor in style or grammar. Makes no difference; arguement can still be true.
D) Generally speaking, the majority of editorials are NOT poor in style and grammar. Makes no difference; arguement can still be true.
E) The author of the editorial DOES NOT purposely use poor grammar to disguise what he knows is a bad argument. Makes no difference; arguement can still be true.

Note: watch out for keywords that limit the scope of the arguement, such as D)"majority" and B)"very few".

You can use process of elimination, or you can arrive at C through deduction. barely literate => poor arguement. It's a leap so we need: "The language of an argument is indicative of its validity."

C wins!
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1255
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:08 pm
Location: St. Louis
Thanked: 312 times
Followed by:90 members

by Tani » Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:05 pm
The stimulus says the argument is bad because the grammar is bad. For the author to be correct, you must assume that the quality of hte grammar detremines the quality of the argument.

That's exactly what C says.
Tani Wolff
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 139
Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 11:06 pm
Thanked: 4 times
GMAT Score:710

by badpoem » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:11 am
Chose E. Terrible. :(

got confused by the word "language" - somehow felt that language could be referring to anything other than English.

Maybe "syntax" could have been used. Can't complain! :)
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 42
Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2011 3:19 pm
Thanked: 15 times

by MM_Ed » Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:41 pm
C.

Isn't that also what the verbal section of the GMAT is all about? :P
If you found one of my answers useful, hit the shiny Thanks button! : )
Top
User avatar
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:50 am

by wingsoffire » Sun Nov 20, 2011 5:39 am
dont see the logic...but I am going with C - will do so on exam day !
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1665
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:04 pm
Thanked: 165 times
Followed by:70 members

by karthikpandian19 » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:35 pm
I got the answer C, by process of elimination
arora007 wrote:This editorial cannot be a good argument because it is barely literate. Run-on sentences, slang, and perfectly dreadful grammar appear regularly throughout. Anything that poorly written cannot be making very much sense.

Which of the following identifies an assumption in the argument above?

A) This editorial was written by someone other than the usual editor.
B) Generally speaking, very few editorials are poor in style or grammar.
C) The language of an argument is indicative of its validity.
D) Generally speaking, the majority of editorials are poor in style and grammar.
E) The author of the editorial purposely uses poor grammar to disguise what he knows is a bad argument.

[spoiler] I dont believe the answer could be C how can somebody link nonsensical with validity? Anyways this indeed was the best choice. [/spoiler]
Regards,
Karthik
The source of the questions that i post from JUNE 2013 is from KNEWTON

---If you find my post useful, click "Thank" :) :)---
---Never stop until cracking GMAT---
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 150
Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:19 pm
Thanked: 4 times

by mv12 » Mon Jun 25, 2012 9:46 pm
C it is.
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2012 11:36 am
Thanked: 2 times
Followed by:4 members

by eski » Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:29 am
My formula is this , find conclusion ie "Anything that poorly written cannot be making very much sense." . Find the closest to this and that comes out to be C , as far as validity is concern , its hard to digest but its the best POSSIBLE ans , not the best ans.

:D
Top
Post new topic Post Reply