Politician's history

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Sankeerthana: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 25; Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:22 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Sankeerthana » Sun Jan 19, 2014 9:34 am

When researching a politician's history, researchers found a police record for use of illegal drugs in 1964. A statement made by the politician, without a date, asserted that the politician had used drugs on and off for 20 years. The facts above best support which of the following?

A. The politician started using drugs in 1935
B. The politician has been repeatedly arrested for drug use
C. The undated document was written before 1985
D. The arrest record was written after the undated document
E. The arrest record provides stronger evidence that the politician used drugs than the undated document.

Interesting one..I finally figured it out though it took me a while, others can try it out!

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Sun Jan 19, 2014 9:34 am

Patrick_GMATFix: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1052; Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 1:30 amFollowed by: 98 members; Thanked: 335 times

by Patrick_GMATFix » Sun Jan 19, 2014 10:41 am

This is probably not an official GMAT question because for inference/draw a conclusion question, the answer choice is typically something that we can prove or nearly prove without making any further assmptions. In this case, the best answer (C) relies on significant assumptions. Also, the question stem talks about a "police record" and the answer choices talk about an "arrest record".

With that said, Answer C is the best answer. If the politician had used drugs for 20 years at the time the statement was written, either the 1964 arrest happened after the statement, or the arrest happened before the statement but within 20 years.

If we place the statement more than 20 years after the arrest, the statement becomes false (the statement claims use of drugs for 20 years). Since the arrest was in 1964, the statement was written at the latest in 1984. Pick C

Again, I don't think this meets the standards of an official GMAT question, so I would be wary about using the source to study.

-Patrick

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