Critical Reasoning

The number of workers diagnosed with a certain respiratory condition at a small processing plant has dropped significantly in the last year. The factory management attributes this decrease entirely to the new dust control systems, which drastically improve the air quality in the factory.

Which of the following is evidence cited in this argument?

* (A)

The number of workers diagnosed with a respiratory condition at a small processing plant has dropped in the last year.
* (B)

A new diagnostic procedure shows that many factory workers who until this year were thought to have the respiratory condition actually suffer from another condition.
* (C)

There is a relationship between the installation of dust control systems and the occurence of a certain respiratory condition.
* (D)

The new dust control systems are state of the art.
* (E)

The decrease in respiratory condition diagnoses is entirely because of the new dust control systems.

OA A

Choice is A

IMO A

Why not C?

bubbliiiiiiii wrote:Why not C?

Which of the following is evidence cited in this argument?
we have to find the evidence stated.
C)is what factory management thinks.
A) is the fact (as given in 1st line and thus evidence)

+1 for A.

itsmebharat wrote:The number of workers diagnosed with a certain respiratory condition at a small processing plant has dropped significantly in the last year. The factory management attributes this decrease entirely to the new dust control systems, which drastically improve the air quality in the factory.

Which of the following is evidence cited in this argument?

* (A)

The number of workers diagnosed with a respiratory condition at a small processing plant has dropped in the last year.
* (B)

A new diagnostic procedure shows that many factory workers who until this year were thought to have the respiratory condition actually suffer from another condition.
* (C)

There is a relationship between the installation of dust control systems and the occurence of a certain respiratory condition.
* (D)

The new dust control systems are state of the art.
* (E)

The decrease in respiratory condition diagnoses is entirely because of the new dust control systems.

OA A

The words certain and significantly have been dropped from the the first sentence of the argument, which is clearly the evidence. I think significantly makes a lot of difference in the context of the argument. What if the number of workers themselves dropped for someother reason. For eg change in a method of production. Its only the use of significantly in the evidence which makes us believe that it can act as a evidence for some method of prevention from the breathing disorder becoming sucessful as mentioned in the next sentence. Hence I picked C. I am not convinced with the OA
Want to hear from others.....

it is A simple one

dv2020 wrote:The words certain and significantly have been dropped from the the first sentence of the argument, which is clearly the evidence. I think significantly makes a lot of difference in the context of the argument. What if the number of workers themselves dropped for someother reason. For eg change in a method of production. Its only the use of significantly in the evidence which makes us believe that it can act as a evidence for some method of prevention from the breathing disorder becoming sucessful as mentioned in the next sentence. Hence I picked C. I am not convinced with the OA
Want to hear from others.....

We are not concerned about the reason why no. of people diagnosed are less.
The question asks for evidence given in argument. not the cause of the evidence.

My question is simple :

the number dropped significantly

the number dropped

which one will you pick when the argument clearly says number dropped significantly

dv2020 wrote:My question is simple :

the number dropped significantly

the number dropped

which one will you pick when the argument clearly says number dropped significantly

Well the evidence is number dropped significantly. say from 1000 to 300
but "the number dropped" is also correct ( as in this case we are not measuring the extent)
What's the answer then according to you?

I am still not sure about A, the evidence is required to prove that "The decrease in respiratory condition diagnoses is entirely because of the new dust control systems", as per A the decrease could be due to lot of other reasons and not just the new dust control systems...

Earlier even i thought the same way, word "evidence" stimulates the mind to think for an option that provides the basis on which the conclusion can be based on. But be careful that would go into ASSUMPTION Q. and answer would be C for that Q. Here ques. is asking for "evidence cited" which i learned is equivalent to STATED FACT. Though old question. type but learned a new representation of the ques. Thanks.

If you read the ques stem again, it asks for evidence cited in this argument. lets first see the argument

The number of workers diagnosed ... has dropped ... in the last year.
... this decrease entirely to the new dust control systems, ....

Option B talks about another diagnostic procedure, Doesnt that goes out of the scope from the argument.

(A)The number of workers diagnosed with a respiratory condition at a small processing plant has dropped in the last year.
(B)A new diagnostic procedure shows that many factory workers who until this year were thought to have the respiratory condition actually suffer from another condition. out of scope
(C)There is a relationship between the installation of dust control systems and the occurence of a certain respiratory condition. irrelevant
(D)The new dust control systems are state of the art. irrelevant
(E)The decrease in respiratory condition diagnoses is entirely because of the new dust control systems. its already stated in the argument "this decrease entirely to the new dust control systems"

https://www.beatthegmat.com/knewton-infe ... tml#371296
A similar question but instead of evidence cited, assumption is asked.