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Deepthi Subbu: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 298; Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:09 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 2 times

by Deepthi Subbu » Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:41 am

The cost of transatlantic airfare has nearly doubled over the past five years, yet airlines are doing a booming business. Clearly, people today have more money to spend on vacations than they did five years ago.

All of the following, if true, would weaken the argument above EXCEPT:

(A) Most people buying transatlantic tickets today use them for business trips, so airfare is refunded by their companies.
(B) There are fewer airlines in existence today than five years ago.
(C) People are taking shorter vacations and staying in cheaper hotels than they used to.
(D) Crossing the Atlantic by ship requires more time than most people can afford.
(E) Domestic airline flights have seen a steady increase in passengers

OA after some dscusson

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:41 am

beat_gmat_09: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 437; Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 5:06 amFollowed by: 1 member; Location: India; Thanked: 50 times; GMAT Score:580

by beat_gmat_09 » Fri Nov 19, 2010 5:24 am

Hope is the dream of a man awake

Ravish: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 65; Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 2:50 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 6 times

by Ravish » Fri Nov 19, 2010 5:33 pm

I picked E using POE.

(A) Most people buying transatlantic tickets today use them for business trips, so airfare is refunded by their companies.

Weakens the argument. This means that it is business travellers and not vacationers who are responsible for the price increases.

(B) There are fewer airlines in existence today than five years ago.

Weakens. Less airlines = higher prices

(C) People are taking shorter vacations and staying in cheaper hotels than they used to.

True to myself, at this point i forgot about the EXCEPT part and almost selected this thinking it is a weakening question before I re-read the question and had my DOH! moment.

This to weakens the argument. It means that some other factors are responsible for the higher air prices and people are having to compromise after paying the exorbitant air fares by cutting short their vacations and staying at cheaper hotels.

(D) Crossing the Atlantic by ship requires more time than most people can afford -

Weakens. It means that people have no choice but to pay the higher prices because the other option is not feasible due to time constraints.

(E) Domestic airline flights have seen a steady increase in passengers -

Not sure why this is true but it does not weaken the argument and hence, to my understanding, is the right answer because it is irrelevant.

RikaMueller: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 19; Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 1:27 am

by RikaMueller » Sat Nov 20, 2010 5:43 am

I think the same as Ravish, I would go with E, as is does not matter to the argument.

Deepthi Subbu: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 298; Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:09 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 2 times

by Deepthi Subbu » Sat Nov 20, 2010 6:34 am

Ravish - Thanks for the explanation about D .

I was confused between D and E , however E is the OA.

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