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bryan88: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 120; Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:54 pm; Location: Delhi; Thanked: 5 times

by bryan88 » Mon Apr 09, 2012 11:37 am

Of the people who moved from one state to another when they retired, the proportion who retired to SunState has decreased by 10 percent over the past five years. Since many local businesses in SunState cater to retirees, this decline is likely to have a noticeably negative economic effect on these businesses.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A)SunState attracts more people who move from one state to another when they retire than does any other state.

b)There are far more local businesses in SunState that cater to tourists than there are local businesses that cater to retirees.
C)The number of retirees who have moved out of SunState to accept re-employment in other states has increased over the past five years.

D)SunState has lower property taxes than any other state, making the state a magnet for retirees.

E)The total number of people who retired and moved to another state for their retirement has increased significantly over the past five years.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Mon Apr 09, 2012 11:37 am

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:25 pm

bryan88 wrote:Of the people who moved from one state to another when they retired, the proportion who retired to SunState has decreased by 10 percent over the past five years. Since many local businesses in SunState cater to retirees, this decline is likely to have a noticeably negative economic effect on these businesses.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A)SunState attracts more people who move from one state to another when they retire than does any other state.

b)There are far more local businesses in SunState that cater to tourists than there are local businesses that cater to retirees.
C)The number of retirees who have moved out of SunState to accept re-employment in other states has increased over the past five years.

D)SunState has lower property taxes than any other state, making the state a magnet for retirees.

E)The total number of people who retired and moved to another state for their retirement has increased significantly over the past five years.

The assumption here is that a decline in a PERCENTAGE implies a decline in the actual NUMBER.

One way to weaken this kind of CR is to show that the SIZE OF THE SAMPLED GROUP -- in this case, the total number of retirees moving from one state to another -- CHANGED.
Consider an extreme case:
There used to be 10 retirees moving from one state to another, and 100% of them retired to SunState.
The result: 10 retirees moving to SunState.
Now there are 1,000,000 retirees moving from one state to another, and 90% of them retire to SunState.
The result: 900,000 retirees moving to SunState.
While the percentage decreases from 100 to 90, the actual number INCREASES from 10 to 900,000 -- weakening the conclusion that there will be a negative economic effect on businesses in SunState.

Answer choice E gives us just what we need:
The total number of people who retired and moved to another state for their retirement has increased significantly over the past five years.

The correct answer is E.

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GmatKiss: Legendary Member; Posts: 2789; Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:19 amFollowed by: 43 members; Location: Chennai, India; Thanked: 206 times; GMAT Score:640

by GmatKiss » Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:04 pm

Awesome explanation from GURU

Thanks!!

bittu.0807: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 33; Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2012 3:39 am; Thanked: 1 times

by bittu.0807 » Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:56 am

Please provide explanation for A.
If SunState attracts more retirees, then it weakens the arguments that there will be negative economic effect.

manihar.sidharth: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 85; Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:15 am; Thanked: 1 times

by manihar.sidharth » Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:49 am

What is the problem with option C.?

Gaurav 2013-fall: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 307; Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:45 pm; Thanked: 12 times; GMAT Score:700

by Gaurav 2013-fall » Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:08 am

My take is B

Gaurav 2013-fall: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 307; Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:45 pm; Thanked: 12 times; GMAT Score:700

by Gaurav 2013-fall » Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:25 am

Mitch,

Good explanation! Why B is wrong.

Can anybody explain.

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:23 am

A) SunState attracts more people who move from one state to another when they retire than does any other state.

Thus, the residents of SunState are MORE LIKELY TO MOVE when they retire than are the residents of other states.
This information STRENGTHENS the conclusion that local businesses that cater to retirees will be hurt economically.

B) There are far more local businesses in SunState that cater to tourists than there are local businesses that cater to retirees.

Be careful of answer choices that change the scope.
The conclusion here is not about the ENTIRE local economy but only about local businesses THAT CATER TO RETIREES.
The number of these businesses is irrelevant; other types of businesses are outside the scope.
The only issue at hand is whether this specific type of local business will be hurt economically.

simone88: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 87; Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:00 am; Thanked: 2 times

by simone88 » Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:42 am

GMATGuruNY wrote: The assumption here is that a decline in a PERCENTAGE implies a decline in the actual NUMBER.

One way to weaken this kind of CR is to show that the SIZE OF THE SAMPLED GROUP -- in this case, the total number of retirees moving from one state to another -- CHANGED.

Exactly! since I finished to read the text I was looking for an answer saying that the number of retirees increased!

Gaurav 2013-fall: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 307; Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:45 pm; Thanked: 12 times; GMAT Score:700

by Gaurav 2013-fall » Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:56 am

Thanks Mitch! I mistook businesses for the entire Sunstate economy.
Thanks a lot!

[email protected]: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 218; Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2013 4:02 amFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 3 times

by [email protected] » Thu Mar 13, 2014 8:26 am

The premise says that the population % decrease is 10% in 5 yrs.
EX:-
No. of retired ppl moving to the country be 100 in 2005
2005: 100
2010: 90
It should 10 PERCENTAGE POINTS in the premise to make option "E" correct.

Regards,
Mukherjee

kutlee: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 90; Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:58 am; Thanked: 2 times

by kutlee » Tue Apr 14, 2015 12:21 am

I can't understand Mitch's explanation for option A.
Option -A :- SunState attracts more people who move from one state to another when they retire than does any other state. So Sunstate is more likely to get more retirees than any other state. It is not the case that people in SunState are MORE LIKELY TO MOVE. Option A is incorrect since the number of people migrating is not clear.
Is this a correct thought process?

vardhankirti: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 14; Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2015 9:54 am

by vardhankirti » Thu Apr 16, 2015 7:54 am

Hi Mates,

I am finding difficulty in finding the premise and the conclusion of an argument.Could you please help me tune this?

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by [email protected] » Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:04 am

Hi vardhankirti,

Are you referring to a specific prompt or to CR questions in general? If you'd like help on a particular question, then you should post it in this Forum.

Also, what practice resources have you been working with so far (books, courses, CATs, etc.)?

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vardhankirti: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 14; Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2015 9:54 am

by vardhankirti » Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:20 am

Thank you for the prompt response.I was talking in general.for complex sentences I find it difficult to pin point the premise and the conclusion.Since this is the basic I thought I should post it here to get help.

I am referring MGMAT material and OG#13

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