Senior management is assembling a committee to evaluate proposals for new product lines, which are necessary for the continued growth of the company. Although Humphries, one candidate for the committee, has extensive experience with the launch of new products, his past behavior shows that he strongly favors risky ventures, which offer the potential for spectacular growth but also have a higher chance of failure than do more conservative ventures. The committee must be able to objectively consider the merits of each proposal and provide an unbiased recommendation.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest basis to counter a conclusion based on the argument above that Humphries would not be an appropriate selection for the committee?

(a)A person with a strong preference derived from past experience usually has encountered success from following that preference or failure from not following it.

(b)The decisions made by a committee composed of one person with a strong preference and other people with weak preferences usually will be dominated by the opinions of the person possessing the strong preference.

(C)Risky ventures are objectively preferable to conservative ventures if and only if the magnitude of the potential reward is great enough to offset the greater probability of failure.

(D)A committee composed of experienced people with strong but conflicting preferences is more likely to make an unbiased recommendation than is a committee composed of people with unknown or weak preferences.

(E)The most successful products are generally those that were considered risky by objective evaluators at the time they were initially proposed.



This is in a way a negative inference question...

Option B is the best answer choice as the committee wants an unbiased recommendation and option B is saying a biased approach.. Hence if option B is true then Humphries, will never get the recommendation. Hence that is what we want. Hence the answer is B.

Also please use a spoiler and answer the question as soon as possible....


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Looks D to me.

What is the OA?

bryan88 wrote:Senior management is assembling a committee to evaluate proposals for new product lines, which are necessary for the continued growth of the company. Although Humphries, one candidate for the committee, has extensive experience with the launch of new products, his past behavior shows that he strongly favors risky ventures, which offer the potential for spectacular growth but also have a higher chance of failure than do more conservative ventures. The committee must be able to objectively consider the merits of each proposal and provide an unbiased recommendation.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest basis to counter a conclusion based on the argument above that Humphries would not be an appropriate selection for the committee?

(a)A person with a strong preference derived from past experience usually has encountered success from following that preference or failure from not following it.

(b)The decisions made by a committee composed of one person with a strong preference and other people with weak preferences usually will be dominated by the opinions of the person possessing the strong preference.

(C)Risky ventures are objectively preferable to conservative ventures if and only if the magnitude of the potential reward is great enough to offset the greater probability of failure.

(D)A committee composed of experienced people with strong but conflicting preferences is more likely to make an unbiased recommendation than is a committee composed of people with unknown or weak preferences.

(E)The most successful products are generally those that were considered risky by objective evaluators at the time they were initially proposed.

The correct answer must COUNTER the conclusion that Humphries WOULD NOT BE an appropriate choice for the committee.
In other words, it must SUPPORT the conclusion that Humphries WOULD BE an appropriate choice for the committee.

The premise is about HUMPHRIES: he has EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE with the launch of new products and strongly favors RISKY ventures.
The conclusion is about the COMMITTEE: it must be able to OBJECTIVELY consider the merits of each proposal and provide an UNBIASED recommendation.

Answer choice D explains why HUMPHRIES would help the committee be UNBIASED: A committee composed of experienced people with strong but conflicting preferences -- Humphries HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE, and he STRONGLY FAVORS RISKY VENTURES -- is more likely to make an UNBIASED recommendation than is a committee composed of people with unknown or weak preferences.

The correct answer is D.