boldface 2

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orel: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 247; Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:39 am; Thanked: 2 times; GMAT Score:660

by orel » Fri Apr 24, 2009 1:21 pm

United Energy recently invested in a series of large windmills which are able to produce renewable energy with minimal negative effect to the environment. The company has not drilled oil wells in the same area, even though greater revenues and profits could be generated from oil wells. Because any drilling would disrupt the native habitat of certain marine species in the area, some environmentalists assert that, by foregoing this drilling, United Energy has established that it places environmental impact over financial returns. However, United Energy may be acting in a manner consistent with its financial goals. Recent patterns of increasing annual hurricane activity have some experts questioning the long-term viability and profitability of oil wells in the area.

The two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

The first supports the conclusion of the argument; the second calls that conclusion into question.

The first states the conclusion of the argument; the second supports that conclusion.

The first supports the environmentalists’ conclusion; the second states that conclusion.

The first states the environmentalists’ conclusion; the second provides a consideration in support of that conclusion.

The first supports the conclusion of the argument; the second also supports the conclusion of the argument.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Fri Apr 24, 2009 1:21 pm

mbadrew: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 198; Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:16 am; Location: San Francisco; Thanked: 14 times

by mbadrew » Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:19 pm

IMO it's A.

The conclusion is "United Energy may be acting in a manner consistent with its financial goals".

First bold print is an assumption = premise.

Second bold print is the conclusion that environmentalists' want.

A--makes sense.

B--doesn't make sense.

C--doesn't make sense.

D-first part supports; second doesn't.

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ketkoag: Legendary Member; Posts: 876; Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:14 am; Thanked: 13 times

by ketkoag » Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:32 am

i also think its A.
coz both the boldfaced statements are contradictory and A states the best relationship between them.

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orel: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 247; Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:39 am; Thanked: 2 times; GMAT Score:660

by orel » Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:21 am

hey guys....
the OA is NOT A.
the sourse is mgmat practice test #3.

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mbadrew: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 198; Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:16 am; Location: San Francisco; Thanked: 14 times

by mbadrew » Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:00 am

Feruza Matyakubova wrote:hey guys....
the OA is NOT A.
the sourse is mgmat practice test #3.

Say WHAT!!!

OE please.

thanks
Drew

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ManSab: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 69; Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:01 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by ManSab » Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:05 pm

it is B.

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nervesofsteel: Legendary Member; Posts: 594; Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:51 pm; Thanked: 12 times

Re: boldface 2

by nervesofsteel » Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:39 pm

Feruza Matyakubova wrote:United Energy recently invested in a series of large windmills which are able to produce renewable energy with minimal negative effect to the environment. The company has not drilled oil wells in the same area, even though greater revenues and profits could be generated from oil wells. Because any drilling would disrupt the native habitat of certain marine species in the area, some environmentalists assert that, by foregoing this drilling, United Energy has established that it places environmental impact over financial returns. However, United Energy may be acting in a manner consistent with its financial goals. Recent patterns of increasing annual hurricane activity have some experts questioning the long-term viability and profitability of oil wells in the area.

The two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

The first supports the conclusion of the argument; the second calls that conclusion into question.

The first states the conclusion of the argument; the second supports that conclusion.

The first supports the environmentalists’ conclusion; the second states that conclusion.

The first states the environmentalists’ conclusion; the second provides a consideration in support of that conclusion.

C for me.

environmentalist coclude that company did things in good will...
and first bold sentence supports the conclusion by saying that more revenue could have been generated .. but company did not go for that...

The first supports the conclusion of the argument; the second also supports the conclusion of the argument.

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iamcste: Legendary Member; Posts: 940; Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:22 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 55 times

by iamcste » Sun Apr 26, 2009 3:24 am

I vouch for C
Because X, Y

X is the premise and Y is the conclusion.

so, once you you know the second bold part is conclusion, you are very near to OA

OA please

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2010gmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 371; Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:48 am; Thanked: 27 times; GMAT Score:740

by 2010gmat » Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:35 am

C

Because 1st --> supports environmentalists claim ---> 2nd bold ... 2nd is environmentalists conclusion...

arguments conclusion is not the 2nd bold statement so we can eliminate choices which say that 2nd bolded portion is arg's conclusion

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orel: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 247; Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:39 am; Thanked: 2 times; GMAT Score:660

by orel » Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:14 pm

Sorry for the delay! Here is the MGMAT explanation:

The argument concludes that United Energy may be acting in a manner consistent with reaching its financial goals. However, this conclusion must be distinguished from the assertion of the environmentalists described in the question - that the actions taken by United Energy indicate that the company is putting environmental concerns ahead of financial returns. The answer choices may consider either the author's conclusion (which is considered the overall conclusion) or the conclusion asserted by the environmentalists (which is considered the opposing opinion).

This is an Analyze the Argument Structure question. The best approach is to consider each boldface in turn.

(A) The first boldface does not support the author's conclusion that United Energy may be acting in a manner consistent with its financial goals; the second does not call the conclusion into question as much as state its opposite.

(B) The first boldface does not state the conclusion of the argument; the second boldface does not support the conclusion of the main argument, which is that United Energy may be acting in a manner consistent with its financial goals.

(C) CORRECT. The first boldface supports the environmentalists’ conclusion that United Energy is acting in a manner that places environmental impact ahead of financial returns. The second boldface states this conclusion.

(D) The first boldface is a relationship that does support the environmentalists' conclusion; however, the second states this conclusion, and does not undermine it.

(E) The first boldface does not support the author's conclusion, which is that United Energy may be acting in its financial interest; the second boldface also does not support this conclusion.

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mmslf75: Legendary Member; Posts: 503; Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:53 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 31 times

by mmslf75 » Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:33 am

Feruza Matyakubova wrote:Sorry for the delay! Here is the MGMAT explanation:

The argument concludes that United Energy may be acting in a manner consistent with reaching its financial goals. However, this conclusion must be distinguished from the assertion of the environmentalists described in the question - that the actions taken by United Energy indicate that the company is putting environmental concerns ahead of financial returns. The answer choices may consider either the author's conclusion (which is considered the overall conclusion) or the conclusion asserted by the environmentalists (which is considered the opposing opinion).

This is an Analyze the Argument Structure question. The best approach is to consider each boldface in turn.

(A) The first boldface does not support the author's conclusion that United Energy may be acting in a manner consistent with its financial goals; the second does not call the conclusion into question as much as state its opposite.

(B) The first boldface does not state the conclusion of the argument; the second boldface does not support the conclusion of the main argument, which is that United Energy may be acting in a manner consistent with its financial goals.

(C) CORRECT. The first boldface supports the environmentalists? conclusion that United Energy is acting in a manner that places environmental impact ahead of financial returns. The second boldface states this conclusion.

(D) The first boldface is a relationship that does support the environmentalists' conclusion; however, the second states this conclusion, and does not undermine it.

(E) The first boldface does not support the author's conclusion, which is that United Energy may be acting in its financial interest; the second boldface also does not support this conclusion.

I chose A,

Can any1 pplease explain as to how must one approach the boldface

Is it that, we must look only at the BOLD part and look out for an answer,
for example, here, doing so results in C

and if we were to look at the entirety of the BOLD, ( ..XXXX......BOLD ........YYYYY) then A should be the answer

Right ??

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papgust: Community Manager; Posts: 1537; Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:10 pmFollowed by: 252 members; Thanked: 653 times

by papgust » Fri Jan 01, 2010 6:48 pm

Normally, boldface questions can be answered just by focusing on boldface items. But sometimes according to me, we need to look at non-bold face items too like this question. For the second boldface, you wouldn't recognize the conclusion unless you look before the second boldface (non-bold item: "..some environmentalists assert that..")

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Testluv: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1302; Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:13 pmFollowed by: 164 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 539 times; GMAT Score:800

by Testluv » Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:42 pm

Look at the first bold-face. Now, look at just the first clauses of the answer choices. Look again at the first boldface...that first boldface is definitely describing a known fact--that the profitability of oil wells is greater than that of windmills So, the first boldface is NOT stating any sort of conclusion...eliminate B and D.

Now, look at the second boldface. Notice that the second boldface is the last clause of a sentence. Because sentences (and not clauses) convey complete thoughts, look at the sentence that contains the second boldface. Notice that this sentence reads "some environmentalists assert....BOLDFACE". Thus, the second sentence is the stating the environmentalists' conclusion...eliminate A and E.

...Choose C.

___________

Boldface questions almost always involve more than one point of view. Fortunately, the most common pattern by far is that of author's argument--counter-argument. Keep track of author's conclusion, author's evidence and counter-conclusion and counter-evidence. In other words just know who thinks what and why. A good place to start is by gripping onto the author's conclusion. Sometimes it helps to grip on to somebody else's conclusion (like, the environmentalists), and then to figure out what the author makes of that conclusion--as I said, almost always the author will be out to disagree with this other conclusion. If you master this strategy, then it will then be pretty straightforward to characterize the roles played by the boldface portions.

_________

Should you look at the other sentences? Insofar as looking at other sentences helps you to understand the different viewpoints, yes, you should consider the totality of the stimulus (in fact, you would be completley unable to characterize the roles of the boldface if the rest of the stimulus wasn't there).

Kaplan Teacher in Toronto

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