Critical Reasoning

This question was part of MGMAT CAT 2..i would like to know how to use the Variance Test (from powerscore cr) to assess the validity of the argument..expert replies appreciated

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which created a professional corps of administrators, was passed after a disappointed office-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield. For a hundred years, this system has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption. The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

Which of the following would be most useful to evaluate the argument's conclusion?

A.The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years

B.The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders

C.The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present

D.The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act

E.The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act

confused between [spoiler]c & E[/spoiler]

I guess the answer is E

Hey will post OA soon! Please give your explanations also..

IMO C.
Let me know the answer with the explanation.
Cheers.

Sanjay2706 wrote:IMO C.
Let me know the answer with the explanation.
Cheers.

whats your reason to choose [spoiler]C?[/spoiler]

I chose E because the act is about creating good corp of administrators for the govt and E mentions evaluation of office holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years but I am having a little doubt in the words first hundred years. Now I am confused with C which says about the last and the new millennium that is before the year 2000 and after the year 2000. I think C is the best choice. What is OA?

C makes more sense because the conclusion is preserve this state in the new millennium........
Thus we talk about present.
a)irrelevant
b) and d) irrelevant
e) talks about first 100 years i.e. 1833-1933
But we are talking about the new millennium.

The idea behind this argument is the Pendleton Act that maintains the competence rather than corruption in government service.
Conclusion of this argument : The best way to preserve this state..is to maintain the Act.
Author makes any assumption that Pendleton act has been successful in achieving its goal.(i.e level of competence as against corruption).

C offers the best explanation : If we say the level of competence is higher than that of corruption this supports the author's assumption,but on the other side if we say the level of competence is lower than that of corruption this will definitely weaken the author's assumption

OA is indeed C. Nice explanations all of you.!

This is the official explanation -

[spoiler]This argument concludes that the best way to have good governance in the future is to preserve the Pendleton Act. It bases that claim on the record of the first hundred years under that Act. The argument assumes that American government service is still uncorrupted and that no better way exists to preserve that state.

(A) The methods used by other governments in other countries are irrelevant to this argument, which only concerns America. Furthermore, one cannot assume that the Swiss and British governments are free of corruption.

(B) The opinions, wishes, and satisfaction levels of government applicants and employees are irrelevant to the level of corruption.

(C) CORRECT. This would confirm or deny the assumption that American government service is currently not corrupt. The argument only claims that this was so for the first hundred years after the passage of the Pendleton Act. There is no information about the level of corruption for the past twenty-some years.

(D) The number of Presidents assassinated is utterly irrelevant to an argument about corruption in government service.

(E) This percentage of corrupt office-holders in the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act would provide no information about the level of corruption in government service for the past twenty years, which is the gap in the evidence. Thus, investigating this percentage would not be that useful for the evaluation of a conclusion that involves the immediate present and the future.[/spoiler]

Hi,
I think out of all the options, C serves the best purpose.

Level of corruption and competence is the most useful information which will help us evaluate the decision.
That's what I think.

Thanks.

Jayanth2689 wrote:This question was part of MGMAT CAT 2..i would like to know how to use the Variance Test (from powerscore cr) to assess the validity of the argument..expert replies appreciated

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which created a professional corps of administrators, was passed after a disappointed office-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield. For a hundred years, this system has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption. The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

Which of the following would be most useful to evaluate the argument's conclusion?

A.The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years

B.The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders

C.The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present

D.The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act

E.The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act

It is claimed that the Act should be maintained because it anchors American government service to competence rather than corruption.

A: The argument is only about American government service. Eliminate A.

B: The argument is not about job satisfaction. Eliminate B.

D: The passage does not claim that the goal of the Act is to prevent assassinations. Eliminate D.

E: Does not offer a way to assess whether the Act promotes competence. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is C.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

Jayanth2689 wrote:This question was part of MGMAT CAT 2..i would like to know how to use the Variance Test (from powerscore cr) to assess the validity of the argument..expert replies appreciated

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which created a professional corps of administrators, was passed after a disappointed office-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield. For a hundred years, this system has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption. The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

Which of the following would be most useful to evaluate the argument's conclusion?

A.The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years

B.The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders

C.The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present

D.The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act

E.The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act

It is claimed that the Act should be maintained because it anchors American government service to competence rather than corruption.

A: The argument is only about American government service. Eliminate A.

B: The argument is not about job satisfaction. Eliminate B.

D: The passage does not claim that the goal of the Act is to prevent assassinations. Eliminate D.

E: Does not offer a way to assess whether the Act promotes competence. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is C.

Thanks GMATGuru! but could you delve into how i can test the effect of an answer choice on the conclusion (provided i narrow it down to 2 answer choices) ?

Jayanth2689 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

Jayanth2689 wrote:This question was part of MGMAT CAT 2..i would like to know how to use the Variance Test (from powerscore cr) to assess the validity of the argument..expert replies appreciated

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which created a professional corps of administrators, was passed after a disappointed office-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield. For a hundred years, this system has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption. The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

Which of the following would be most useful to evaluate the argument's conclusion?

A.The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years

B.The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders

C.The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present

D.The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act

E.The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act

It is claimed that the Act should be maintained because it anchors American government service to competence rather than corruption.

A: The argument is only about American government service. Eliminate A.

B: The argument is not about job satisfaction. Eliminate B.

D: The passage does not claim that the goal of the Act is to prevent assassinations. Eliminate D.

E: Does not offer a way to assess whether the Act promotes competence. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is C.

Thanks GMATGuru! but could you delve into how i can test the effect of an answer choice on the conclusion (provided i narrow it down to 2 answer choices) ?

Make the answer choices extremely positive or negative.
When the correct answer is made extremely positive or negative, the the conclusion of the argument will strengthened or weakened.
When the incorrect answers are made extremely positive or negative, the conclusion of the argument will not be affected.

A.The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years have been hugely successful.

B.The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders is very low.

C.The level of competence has been very high and the level of corruption has been very low in American government service between 1950 and the present.

D.The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act has been very low.

E.The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act has been very high.

When the answers are made extremely positive or negative, only answer choice C helps to determine whether the Act has promoted competence and eradicated corruption.

Can't we rephrase the A

A.The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years

Rephrase :

A.The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years have been better than methods used in US

in this case, method in US is NOT best.