attorney (pls with explanations)

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attorney (pls with explanations)

by max37274 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:06 am
Attorneys for a criminal defendant charged that the government, in a coverup, had destroyed evidence that would have supported the defendant in a case. The government replied that there is no evidence that would even tend to support the defendant in the case.

Which one of the following is the most accurate evaluation of the government's reply?

(A) It leaves open the question of whether the government had destroyed such evidence.
(B) It establishes that the attorneys' charge is an exaggeration.

(C) It shows that the attorneys did not know whether their charge was true.

(D) It demonstrates the government's failure to search for evidence in its files.

(E) If true, it effectively disproves the charge made on behalf of the defendant.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:08 am
I would choose A

A- Correct

B- It does not do this. By them using the present tense, they do not respond to the charges that there may have been evidence in the past

C- This is not addressed in the stimulus

D- This is out of scope

E- See explanation for B
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by sumanr84 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:35 am
I will go for option E.

Only A and E are contender here, rest all are out of score.

Why I choose E is because the opening statement says, "IF TRUE" which means govt is right in saying "there is no evidence", hence I have my point to evaluate the argument ( that falls in favor of govt of course).
Option A is making a very generic statement without any base that can serve to evaluate the argument.

Am I right ? OA pls.
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:37 am
sumanr84 wrote:I will go for option E.

Only A and E are contender here, rest all are out of score.

Why I choose E is because the opening statement says, "IF TRUE" which means govt is right in saying "there is no evidence", hence I have my point to evaluate the argument ( that falls in favor of govt of course).
Option A is making a very generic statement without any base that can serve to evaluate the argument.

Am I right ? OA pls.
I eliminated that one though because of the "is". That implies present tense. That means that there is currently no evidence, but it does not account for the fact that there may be no evidence currently, because they destroyed it. For E to be correct, I think it would have to say "there has never been any evidence"
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by sumanr84 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:41 am
Im not sure if we need to put attention to grammar part of the CR. That being the case, you have a point..

Max, do you have OA/OE for the questions you are posting ?

Moderators pls comment.
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by max37274 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:06 am
Suman OA is A. In all my questions when someone gives correct answer I thank in the post. I donot give OA in the beginning as it ruins discussion.

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:07 am
sumanr84 wrote:Im not sure if we need to put attention to grammar part of the CR. That being the case, you have a point..

Max, do you have OA/OE for the questions you are posting ?

Moderators pls comment.
If they aren't stopping those trolls in the math forum from posting questions without OAs and then copying and pasting the solution from complore, I don't think they will stop anyone from doing it.
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by komal » Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:29 pm
max37274 wrote:Attorneys for a criminal defendant charged that the government, in a coverup, had destroyed evidence that would have supported the defendant in a case. The government replied that there is no evidence that would even tend to support the defendant in the case.

Which one of the following is the most accurate evaluation of the government's reply?

To solve Evaluate The Argument question type, 'Variance Test' as suggested in the PS CR Bible works wonders. 'Variance Test' simply means that the correct answer choice if it is true will strengthen/weaken the argument and that if it is false will weaken/strengthen the argument.

(A) It leaves open the question of whether the government had destroyed such evidence.
Correct : If this statement is true it will strengthen the argument, if it is false it will weaken the argument.

(B) It establishes that the attorneys' charge is an exaggeration.
Incorrect : 'Exaggeration' is clearly out of scope.

(C) It shows that the attorneys did not know whether their charge was true.
Incorrect : The polar opposite responses (yes/no) will have no effect on the conclusion. Eliminated.

(D) It demonstrates the government's failure to search for evidence in its files.
Incorrect : Govt's success/failure to search the evidence is not an issue here.

(E) If true, it effectively disproves the charge made on behalf of the defendant.
Incorrect : ---- Same as C ------

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by reply2spg » Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:27 pm
IMO A, but what is conclusion here?