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Cambridge tests good ones - 8

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by arora007 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:09 am
A woman who was seriously injured in a fall on a staircase remarked, "I'm glad this is behind me because I am terribly afraid of elevators. Yet, statistics show that a person is ten times as likely to be seriously injured while using stairs as while riding in an elevator. Now that I've had my fall, I can use stairs without fear."

The conclusion above is erroneous because the woman
A) ignores the possibility of serious injury while using a ramp
B) assumes that all accidents are equally serious
C) misuses the concept of probability
D) fails to connect the possibility of accident with personal fear
E) makes no reference to the fact that stairs are not mechanical devices.

third choice is the correct answer. The weakness in the reasoning above is that it ignores the fact that the probability of falling on stairs is not erased just because one has had an accident. Each time you mount the stairs you will still face the risks on an accident.
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by AIM GMAT » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:15 am
IMO D .

It was betwen C and D .But i thought that having an accident is not gonna make that woman be scared of stairs , i mean she doesnt consider that happening again . Now i see while typing this i actually realised that she is not correlating the probabilty with her fears .and going against the concept of prob. Still an explanation for D will make it crisp.

This was cool . Do u have more detailed OE ?
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by arora007 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:23 am
Even i had chosen D, but the correct choice is C. Have a look - the entire quoted text is spoken by the injured woman .

The probability of accident is 10 time greater no matter what... she cannot rely on law of averages!
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by prachich1987 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:05 am
nice combo of Quant & Verbal :)
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by mundasingh123 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:01 am
What are Cambridge tests ? R they tuffer than lSAT or what ?
Is this question Gmat Type
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by Target2009 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:59 pm
between c & D. not able to choose best.
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Abhishek
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