Guidebbok Writer

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Guidebbok Writer

by sumithshah » Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:17 am
Guidebook writer: I have visited hotels throughout the country and have noticed that in those built before 1930 the quality of the original carpentry work is generally superior to that in hotels built afterward. Clearly carpenters working on hotels before 1930 typically worked with more skill, care, and effort than carpenters who have worked on hotels built subsequently.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the guidebook writer’s argument?

A. The quality of original carpentry in hotels is generally far superior to the quality of original carpentry in other structures, such as houses and stores.
B. Hotels built since 1930 can generally accommodate more guests than those built before 1930.
C. The materials available to carpenters working before 1930 were not significantly different in quality from the materials available to carpenters working after 1930.
D. The better the quality of original carpentry in a building, the less likely that building is to fall into disuse and be demolished.
E. The average length of apprenticeship for carpenters has declined significantly since 1930.

OA here is D, however, I feel the answer should be E

Any ideas?

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by vivek.kapoor83 » Thu Oct 02, 2008 8:17 am
IMO D .....because if early carpenenters were not good then bulidings and their work would have been demolished and then u cant compare new and old carpanter work

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Re: Guidebbok Writer

by codesnooker » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:24 am
sumithshah wrote: D. The better the quality of original carpentry in a building, the less likely that building is to fall into disuse and be demolished.
E. The average length of apprenticeship for carpenters has declined significantly since 1930.

OA here is D, however, I feel the answer should be E

Any ideas?
Hi Sumit,

Indeed the answer should be D, because in weaken question we have to attack the conclusion. It means we need to find an option that shows that there is some other reason present for a mentioned event.

The option (E) actually strengthen the conclusion instead of weakening it. If new carpenters (after 1930) were less trained to those carpenters who were trained before 1930, then of course it means carpenters of before 1930 period were more skilled, which is actually written in the conclusion.

Whereas option (D) provides the substitution of given conclusion to lead to the premise as stated by Vivek.

This option (E) is an example of OPPOSITE DIRECTION which is always wrong but tempting for the test-taker as stated in the powerscore CR.

Hope this helps...

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by john83.amar » Thu May 12, 2016 1:40 am
It seems to me that the right answer is E