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A challenging strengthen question

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Read the Question in the post below and mark the Correct Answer

A
0
No votes
B
2
10%
C
4
19%
D
13
62%
E
2
10%
 
Total votes: 21

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A challenging strengthen question

by e-GMAT » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:50 pm
The renaissance in Britain's car industry has been a beacon of hope in an economy that has been broadly flat for the best part of two years. It can help rebalance the UK economy by increasing our manufacturing output and our exports. It can also create high quality jobs. But we shouldn't be under too many illusions: even if manufacturing companies like Jaguar can help increase UK exports, many economists doubt they can be a major source of new jobs over the long term.

Which of the following best explains the reason for the doubt expressed by the economists?

A. The car industry does not create low-quality jobs.
B. Even though Jaguar's exports grew more than 20% in the last year, its number of employees grew only by 5%.
C. The car industry is a capital intensive industry and frequently goes through cycles of growth and recession.
D. To succeed in the global manufacturing industry, a company has to be extraordinarily efficient, which means using the same workforce for more production.
E. US car companies are financially well off than their British peers and can cut down their prices to gain market share.
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by tanviet » Tue Jan 29, 2013 1:47 am
export increase--------> can not create jobs over long term
strengthenning question

prethinking
- assumption: there is some other factor
- strengthener: there is other factor

go to answer choice, look for a match
E is match.

pls comment.
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by tanviet » Tue Jan 29, 2013 1:49 am
sorry
D is my choice.

very hard.

why it is hard? I do not know, pls explain
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by tanviet » Tue Jan 29, 2013 1:52 am
E IS WRONG because it dose not say that us car compete with British car.

howeever, in og book there are many question in which weakener/strengthener makes assumption, a situation similar to answer choice E. (pls, read the relevant post on gmatclut, do google search , typing " weakener make assumption" )
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by Sam_hellboy » Tue Jan 29, 2013 5:21 am
I will go with D

I was struggling with Choice C & D.

Goal it to strengthen that there will be no increase in new job.

C - does not say anything about the jobs. Rather it says growth and recession of Car industry.
If this is a factor affecting the increase/decrease in the no of jobs then we need additional assumptions/premise to prove this. So this is wrong

D - mentioned that the company has to maintain its current workforce ==> no new jobs
Hence strengthening..

Experts could you pls clarify if my thinking is wrong or not?
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by charu_mahajan » Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:17 am
I have started loving posts from e-gmat folks. The posts are up to the mark and clean.
I've voted for D. Will wait for official answers.
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by viveksingh222 » Wed Jan 30, 2013 10:09 pm
+1 for D
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by challenger63 » Fri Feb 01, 2013 6:14 pm
In my view, this question is rather easy one - 500-600 level. If one believes that this one is difficult, I could recommend just to read ManhattanPrep CR or PowerScore Critical Reasoning Bible.

The answer should be D.
Timing is less than 1 min.
e-GMAT wrote:The renaissance in Britain's car industry has been a beacon of hope in an economy that has been broadly flat for the best part of two years. It can help rebalance the UK economy by increasing our manufacturing output and our exports. It can also create high quality jobs. But we shouldn't be under too many illusions: even if manufacturing companies like Jaguar can help increase UK exports, many economists doubt they can be a major source of new jobs over the long term.

Which of the following best explains the reason for the doubt expressed by the economists?
>> So, what is this question about? This is a strengthen type of question = de-facto assumption question. Even before one reads answers, he or she should understand what is logically missed here.

There are two potential options:
HIGH CHANCES: Increase in the number of produced car does not seriously increase the number of jobs because of production efficiency (low number of workers required).
LOW CHANCES: High Quality jobs are the niche of the whole UK market not major, and Low-Quality segment is a major.
e-GMAT wrote:A. The car industry does not create low-quality jobs.
>> So, what? The majority of the UK labour market can be high-quality jobs.
e-GMAT wrote:B. Even though Jaguar's exports grew more than 20% in the last year, its number of employees grew only by 5%.
>> This 5% could be millions.
e-GMAT wrote:C. The car industry is a capital intensive industry and frequently goes through cycles of growth and recession.
>> This one is a tempting option but we can still have an increase in short-term. Moreover, the growth cycle can last for a long time.
e-GMAT wrote:D. To succeed in the global manufacturing industry, a company has to be extraordinarily efficient, which means using the same workforce for more production.
>> This is it, our high chance option.
e-GMAT wrote:E. US car companies are financially well off than their British peers and can cut down their prices to gain market share.
>> Out of scope. We can still have in an increase.
If you find my post useful, please don't hesitate to click thanks button.


I am not an expert, so I can make mistakes. If you see a mistake, please notify me.
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by e-GMAT » Sun Feb 03, 2013 5:35 pm
Hi,

Here comes the detailed solution:

Doubt of Economists:

The economists doubt that even if manufacturing companies like Jaguar can help increase UK exports, they cannot be a major source of new jobs over the long term

Note the following two things in the conclusion:
1. It is about manufacturing companies. Jaguar is merely used as an example.
2. There is strong usage of word "cannot".

We need to provide information that in the given context will strengthen the economist's claim.

Given Context:
"¢ Car industry, which was stagnant for the last two years, is showing signs of revival.
"¢ This revival can help UK economy by increasing manufacturing output and exports.
"¢ It can also create high quality jobs.

Prethinking:

How could manufacturing companies not produce many jobs for UK, even with increasing exports and thus correspondingly increasing manufacturing activity?
1. Prethinking Assumption 1: Manufacturing companies will outsource some of their jobs to other countries.
2. Prethinking Assumption 2: Manufacturing companies will become more efficient in usage of workforce so that an increase in production may not translate into increase in employment.

Analysis of Answer choices:

A. The car industry does not create low-quality jobs. - We are concerned about the number of jobs, not quality of jobs. If car industry creates large number of high quality jobs, the economists doubt won't be supported. Thus, incorrect.

B. Even though Jaguar's exports grew more than 20% in the last year, its number of employees grew only by 5%. - This choice talks only about Jaguar, while economists' doubt pertains to the entire manufacturing sector. Even if we say that their doubt could be based on data from single company, a 5% growth in employment is probably not a small growth. This still indicates that as exports will grow, so will employment. Thus, this option is also inconsistent with the conclusion.

C. The car industry is a capital intensive industry and frequently goes through cycles of growth and recession. - This does not even talk about jobs. Thus, incorrect.

D. To succeed in the global manufacturing industry, a company has to be extraordinarily efficient, which means using the same workforce for more production. - Correct. This is right on track. This choice implies that to succeed in the global market (exports), a company needs to produce more using the same workforce. Therefore, even if exports increase, this increase may not lead to a corresponding increase in jobs. Thus, this statement supports the economists' doubt.

E. US car companies are financially well off than their British peers and can cut down their prices to gain market share. - Like option C, this also doesn't talk about jobs. Thus, incorrect.

Hope this helps :)

Thanks,
Chiranjeev
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by e-GMAT » Sun Feb 03, 2013 5:41 pm
Hi All,

Thank you for chiming in. All of you answered the question correctly :)

Special thanks to Challenger63 for posting detailed and precise explanations for the option choices.

@charu_mahajan: Thank you for the appreciation :) It suggests us that we are on the right track.

Cheers,
Chiranjeev
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