Critical Reasoning

Nearly all mail that is correctly addressed arrives at its destination within two business days of being sent. In fact, correctly addressed mail takes longer than this only when it is damaged in transit. Overall, however, most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.
If the statements above are true, which one of the following must be true?
(A) A large proportion of the mail that is correctly addressed is damaged in transit.
(B) No incorrectly addressed mail arrives within two business days of being sent.
(C) Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed.
(D) A large proportion of mail is incorrectly addressed.
(E) More mail arrives within two business days of being sent than arrives between two and three business days after being sent.

geet wrote:Nearly all mail that is correctly addressed arrives at its destination within two business days of being sent. In fact, correctly addressed mail takes longer than this only when it is damaged in transit. Overall, however, most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.
If the statements above are true, which one of the following must be true?
(A) A large proportion of the mail that is correctly addressed is damaged in transit.
(B) No incorrectly addressed mail arrives within two business days of being sent.
(C) Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed.
(D) A large proportion of mail is incorrectly addressed.
(E) More mail arrives within two business days of being sent than arrives between two and three business days after being sent.

IMO D) by POE.

I don't know how to explain this

I say (D).

I was between (A) and (D). I eliminated (A) because the stimulus states that "nearly all" mail that is correctly addresses arrives at its destination within two business days. Therefore, (A) cannot be correct.

IMO D(used negation).

If large proportion of mails does have correct address then the argument falls apart.

I too went with A first , But I just wanted to have a second look and it changed everything. lol.

OA please.

I need to know why C is wrong.
Is it because stimulus says 'all mail...' (statement 1) and choice C says 'most mail..'?
what's the difference here?

According to the arguement, there are 3 scenarios:

1. Nearly all (i.e. Almost All) mail that is correctly addressed arrives at its destination within two business days of being sent.
2. Correctly addressed mail takes longer than this only when it is damaged in transit.
3. Rest all are incorrectly addressed mail (this is implicitly stated)

The conclusion of the arguement: Overall, however, most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.

This means that the proportion of number of correctly addressed mail are less than the damaged correctly addressed mail & the incorrectly addressed mail.
There might be many damaged correctly addressed mail than incorrectly addressed mail, or vise versa. We do not have information to determine that.

Lets look at the answer choices:

(A) A large proportion of the mail that is correctly addressed is damaged in transit.
We can't say this for sure from the information provided.
(B) No incorrectly addressed mail arrives within two business days of being sent.
This is extreme & so should be eliminated
(C) Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed.
Can't deny this statement. Hold it
(D) A large proportion of mail is incorrectly addressed.
We can't say this for sure from the information provided. There might be many damaged correctly addressed mail & fewer incorrectly addressed mail
(E) More mail arrives within two business days of being sent than arrives between two and three business days after being sent.
No such thing mentioned

IMO C

OA is D.. n thnx 4 d explanation

geet wrote:OA is D.. n thnx 4 d explanation

Do you have the official explanation.

This is a must be true question. In what scenario does C become false?

1. Nearly all mail that is correctly addressed arrives at its destination within two business days of being sent.
(Some mails correctly addressed arrive after 2 days)

2. In fact, correctly addressed mail takes longer than this only when it is damaged in transit.

3. Overall, however, most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.

If the statements above are true, which one of the following must be true?

(A) A large proportion of the mail that is correctly addressed is damaged in transit.
The question stem doesnt state the reason for delay)[/color]

(B) No incorrectly addressed mail arrives within two business days of being sent.
(All correctly addressed mails arrive within 2 days. Hence this is false)


(C) Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed.
(same statement as the 1st statement in question. Hence the correct answer)

(D) A large proportion of mail is incorrectly addressed.
(This is an assumption to substantiate the claim of the 3rd statement)

(E) More mail arrives within two business days of being sent than arrives between two and three business days after being sent.
(No such information given)

Hence 'C' is the correct answer.

geet wrote:
OA is D.. n thnx 4 d explanation


Do you have the official explanation.

This is a must be true question. In what scenario does C become false?

The last statement says that most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.And correctly addressed mail takes longer than this (2 business days) only when it is damaged in transit.

This is same as D. If large proportion mail is incorrectly address

In C, Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed. Look at the word "most". According to 3rd premise most mails take more than 3 business days. C is in contradiction with this premise. Hence I eliminated C

geet wrote:Nearly all mail that is correctly addressed arrives at its destination within two business days of being sent. In fact, correctly addressed mail takes longer than this only when it is damaged in transit. Overall, however, most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.
If the statements above are true, which one of the following must be true?
(A) A large proportion of the mail that is correctly addressed is damaged in transit.
(B) No incorrectly addressed mail arrives within two business days of being sent.
(C) Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed.
(D) A large proportion of mail is incorrectly addressed.
(E) More mail arrives within two business days of being sent than arrives between two and three business days after being sent.

Guys, i got that D should be the correct answer but why A is wrong.. If D is the correct answer then what is the significance of the statement " In fact, correctly addressed mail takes longer than this only when it is damaged in transit." in the stimuli above.. it tells that A should be the answer..i mean why only is mentioned in the stimuli above?
Is something related to "2 days concept" and "3 or more days concept"??
Experts please help..

schumi_gmat wrote:

geet wrote:
OA is D.. n thnx 4 d explanation


Do you have the official explanation.

This is a must be true question. In what scenario does C become false?

The last statement says that most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.And correctly addressed mail takes longer than this (2 business days) only when it is damaged in transit.

This is same as D. If large proportion mail is incorrectly address

In C, Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed. Look at the word "most". According to 3rd premise most mails take more than 3 business days. C is in contradiction with this premise. Hence I eliminated C

Dont you think most is equivalent to almost all.

I feel you cannot choose between A n D.

I feel asnwer should be C/

schumi_gmat wrote: The last statement says that most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.And correctly addressed mail takes longer than this (2 business days) only when it is damaged in transit.

This is same as D. If large proportion mail is incorrectly address

In C, Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed. Look at the word "most". According to 3rd premise most mails take more than 3 business days. C is in contradiction with this premise. Hence I eliminated C

Most mail that arrives within two business days of being sent is correctly addressed.

The above sentence is only focussing on the mail that arrives within 2 business days. Its not taking about the mail that arrives after 2 days. So, if most of the mail arrive within 2 business days, then they should be addressed correctly. What are the chances for an incorrectly addressed mails to arrive within 2 days?

I think D is the correct answer. The question says primarily three things:

1) Nearly all mail that is correctly addressed arrives at its destination within two business days of being sent.
2) In fact, correctly addressed mail takes longer than this only when it is damaged in transit.
3) Overall most mail arrives three business days or more after being sent.

Now lets assume x is the number of correctly addressed mails and T is the total number of mails

then the number of incorrectly addressed mails say y = T-x

1) almost all x (say 99% of x) arrives within 2 days
2) only x that is damaged in transit take longer (from above statement it follows that this is equal to 1% of x), therefore A which says " A large proportion of the mail that is correctly addressed is damaged in transit" cannot be true
3) Overall most T arrive in 3 or more days; therefore most of (x+y) arrive in 3 or more days but 0.99 x arrive in 2 days or less so for the above to hold y>>x i.e. large proportion of mails should be incorrectly addressed

Thus, the final answer clearly is D

hope this helps

I believe the answer should be D