CR-Fresh potatoes

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CR-Fresh potatoes

by gmat009 » Sat Sep 27, 2008 5:11 pm
Fresh potatoes generally cost about $2 for a 10-pound bag, whereas dehydrated instant potatoes cost, on average, about $3 per pound. It can be concluded that some consumers will pay 15 times as much for convenience, since sales of this convenience food continue to rise.
Which of the following, if true, indicates that there is a major flaw in the argument above?
(A) Fresh potatoes bought in convenient 2-pound bags are about $1 a bag, or 2 1/2 times more expensive than fresh potatoes bought in 10-pound bags.
(B) Since fresh potatoes are 80 percent water, one pound of dehydrated potatoes is the equivalent of 5 pounds of fresh potatoes.
(C) Peeled potatoes in cans are also more expensive than the less convenient fresh potatoes.
(D) Retail prices of dehydrated potatoes have declined by 20 percent since 1960 to the current level of about $3 a pound.
(E) As a consequence of labor and processing costs, all convenience foods cost more than the basic foods from which they are derived.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by stop@800 » Sun Sep 28, 2008 11:04 am
The conclusion is
that ppl are paying more, 15 times more for convenience.

this is judges as sales is increasing

not we need to find a flw
ie something which make make the conclusion invalid

how about if I prove that the cost is not too much
its actually not 15 times

as option c does
as per C
ppl are just paying 3 times...

rest all options can be easily invalidated...

Hope it helps

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by gmat009 » Sun Sep 28, 2008 12:59 pm
stop@800 wrote:The conclusion is
that ppl are paying more, 15 times more for convenience.

this is judges as sales is increasing

not we need to find a flw
ie something which make make the conclusion invalid

how about if I prove that the cost is not too much
its actually not 15 times

as option c does
as per C
ppl are just paying 3 times...

rest all options can be easily invalidated...

Hope it helps
OA is B

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Re: CR-Fresh potatoes

by codesnooker » Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:44 pm
gmat009 wrote:Fresh potatoes generally cost about $2 for a 10-pound bag, whereas dehydrated instant potatoes cost, on average, about $3 per pound. It can be concluded that some consumers will pay 15 times as much for convenience, since sales of this convenience food continue to rise.
Which of the following, if true, indicates that there is a major flaw in the argument above?
(A) Fresh potatoes bought in convenient 2-pound bags are about $1 a bag, or 2 1/2 times more expensive than fresh potatoes bought in 10-pound bags.
(B) Since fresh potatoes are 80 percent water, one pound of dehydrated potatoes is the equivalent of 5 pounds of fresh potatoes.
(C) Peeled potatoes in cans are also more expensive than the less convenient fresh potatoes.
(D) Retail prices of dehydrated potatoes have declined by 20 percent since 1960 to the current level of about $3 a pound.
(E) As a consequence of labor and processing costs, all convenience foods cost more than the basic foods from which they are derived.
According to PowerScore CR Bible, this question belongs to family 2. i.e. we need to find the flaw in the conclusion by considering each answer choice as 100% correct.

If we look at the choice (B), it states that

1 Pound of Dehydrated potatoes = 5 pound of fresh potatoes.

That means, 2 pound of dehydrated potatoes = 10 pound of fresh potatoes. It means consumer will pay actually paying 6$ for the equivalent of 10 pounds of fresh potatoes. So, rate is increased by 3 times instead of 15 times.

Hence choose (B)

Option (C) is out of scope, because it talks about Peeled potatoes, which is out of scope in this context.

Hope this helps...

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Re: CR-Fresh potatoes

by gmat009 » Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:48 pm
codesnooker wrote:
gmat009 wrote:Fresh potatoes generally cost about $2 for a 10-pound bag, whereas dehydrated instant potatoes cost, on average, about $3 per pound. It can be concluded that some consumers will pay 15 times as much for convenience, since sales of this convenience food continue to rise.
Which of the following, if true, indicates that there is a major flaw in the argument above?
(A) Fresh potatoes bought in convenient 2-pound bags are about $1 a bag, or 2 1/2 times more expensive than fresh potatoes bought in 10-pound bags.
(B) Since fresh potatoes are 80 percent water, one pound of dehydrated potatoes is the equivalent of 5 pounds of fresh potatoes.
(C) Peeled potatoes in cans are also more expensive than the less convenient fresh potatoes.
(D) Retail prices of dehydrated potatoes have declined by 20 percent since 1960 to the current level of about $3 a pound.
(E) As a consequence of labor and processing costs, all convenience foods cost more than the basic foods from which they are derived.
According to PowerScore CR Bible, this question belongs to family 2. i.e. we need to find the flaw in the conclusion by considering each answer choice as 100% correct.

If we look at the choice (B), it states that

1 Pound of Dehydrated potatoes = 5 pound of fresh potatoes.

That means, 2 pound of dehydrated potatoes = 10 pound of fresh potatoes. It means consumer will pay actually paying 6$ for the equivalent of 10 pounds of fresh potatoes. So, rate is increased by 3 times instead of 15 times.

Hence choose (B)

Option (C) is out of scope, because it talks about Peeled potatoes, which is out of scope in this context.

Hope this helps...
What is the flaw.
Reason you have given, looks like you are supporting the argument.

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Re: CR-Fresh potatoes

by codesnooker » Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:00 pm
gmat009 wrote:
What is the flaw.
Reason you have given, looks like you are supporting the argument.
The author states that some consumers are ready to pay 15 times for convince product. Whereas in option (B), it is clear that consumers are paying 3 times rather than 15 times for the convince product.

So flaw in the conclusion is multiplier value of the price of the convince product to the normal product.

Let me know, if it still not clear.

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by stop@800 » Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:43 am
gmat009 wrote:
stop@800 wrote:The conclusion is
that ppl are paying more, 15 times more for convenience.

this is judges as sales is increasing

not we need to find a flw
ie something which make make the conclusion invalid

how about if I prove that the cost is not too much
its actually not 15 times

as option c does
as per C
ppl are just paying 3 times...

rest all options can be easily invalidated...

Hope it helps
OA is B
gmat009, I justified B only.
However by mistake I wrote C

Pl see the explanation, ull get ur ans

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by gmat009 » Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:33 am
Thanks everyone, I got it

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by NSNguyen » Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:07 am
IMO: B
rest out of scope
Please share your idea and your reasoning :D
https://bmnmed.com/home/
https://nguyensinguyen.vietnam21.org

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by Sanibelmassage » Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:44 pm
Thanks for the info, that I cOuld not find elsewhere, that ;5# fresh equals one# dried....this will help me a lot

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by hjafferi » Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:53 am
IMO B

Rest are out of scope.