gmatmachoman wrote:Samuel is obviously a bad fisherman. During the past season, in which he and the five members of his team spent four months on a boat together off Dutch Harbor, AK, he caught fewer fish than any of his teammates
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Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument above?

A) Two seasons ago, Samuel fished on another boat off Dutch Harbor and caught more fish than any other member of that boat.-This contradicts the fact that samuel is obviously a bad fisherman
B) Before becoming a fisherman, Samuel piloted a fishing boat whose members regularly caught record numbers of fish.-Insignificant.
C) While fishing this past season, Samuel fell sick for a week and did not catch any fish during this time.
D) Unlike the other fishermen on his boat, at the order of the captain, Samuel fished this past season with experimental bait.
E) Amongst the fishing community in Dutch Harbor, Samuel has a reputation for being an especially bad fisherman-But no explanation given

firdaus117 wrote:Well the argument is that he is a bad fisherman.We have to look for the option which weakens this argument.

A) Two seasons ago, Samuel fished on another boat off Dutch Harbor and caught more fish than any other member of that boat.-We can't conclude on basis of one season that he is a bad fisherman-Well that is exactly why it weakens the arguement..This option doesn't say anything about other fishermen.
B) Before becoming a fisherman, Samuel piloted a fishing boat whose members regularly caught record numbers of fish.-irrelevent
C) While fishing this past season, Samuel fell sick for a week and did not catch any fish during this time. Looks good but wrongly assumes that other were not sick during the period.
D) Unlike the other fishermen on his boat, at the order of the captain, Samuel fished this past season with experimental bait. Explains the reason why he caught lesser fishes than his fellow men.
E) Amongst the fishing community in Dutch Harbor, Samuel has a reputation for being an especially bad fisherman-No reason for this bad reputation.
IMO D

harsh.champ wrote:

firdaus117 wrote:Well the argument is that he is a bad fisherman.We have to look for the option which weakens this argument.


Hey firdaus ,
In the question we are given an absolute term "bad fishermen" not a relative term "bad than others" so it doesn't matter if any info about other fishermen is given or not.
So,I guess A should be correct.

I beg to differ you Harsh.The adjectives like good,bad,high ,low,tall etc. are not absolute terms but relative.

gmatmachoman wrote:GUys...

Seems some heat is picking up for this topic..So Let me hold on with OA

gmatmachoman wrote:Samuel is obviously a bad fisherman. During the past season, in which he and the five members of his team spent four months on a boat together off Dutch Harbor, AK, he caught fewer fish than any of his teammates
.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument above?

A) Two seasons ago, Samuel fished on another boat off Dutch Harbor and caught more fish than any other member of that boat.
Incorrect : Does nothing to undermine the conclusion that samuel is a bad fisherman.

B) Before becoming a fisherman, Samuel piloted a fishing boat whose members regularly caught record numbers of fish.
Incorrect: The number of fish caught by members of the boat that samuel piloted is irrelevant.

C) While fishing this past season, Samuel fell sick for a week and did not catch any fish during this time.
Incorrect : He spent four months on the boat... He still had 15 months to catch good number of fish. Eliminated.

D) Unlike the other fishermen on his boat, at the order of the captain, Samuel fished this past season with experimental bait.
Correct : This weakens the conclusion by implying that he caught less fish not because he's bad fisherman but because he fished with an experimental bait.

E) Amongst the fishing community in Dutch Harbor, Samuel has a reputation for being an especially bad fisherman
Incorrect : Strengthens the argument.

gmatmachoman wrote:Samuel is obviously a bad fisherman. During the past season, in which he and the five members of his team spent four months on a boat together off Dutch Harbor, AK, he caught fewer fish than any of his teammates
.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument above?

A) Two seasons ago, Samuel fished on another boat off Dutch Harbor and caught more fish than any other member of that boat. -- Incorrect - scope of the passage is samual fishing when he is on a boat together off Dutch Harbor, AK. We do not care about his past history or what he did two seasons ago.
B) Before becoming a fisherman, Samuel piloted a fishing boat whose members regularly caught record numbers of fish. -- Incorrect -- What Samuel did no clue. Also as per the explaination in A, this is out of scope
C) While fishing this past season, Samuel fell sick for a week and did not catch any fish during this time. -- Incorrect - this is a great trap. As Komal said Samual was on boat for four months, what he did for 15 weeks? Also after careful reading will tell you that Samual did fishing in this week. However, did not catch any fish
D) Unlike the other fishermen on his boat, at the order of the captain, Samuel fished this past season with experimental bait. - Correct - Samual only fished for experimental purpose. So this brings new point why Samual didn't catch more fishes.
E) Amongst the fishing community in Dutch Harbor, Samuel has a reputation for being an especially bad fisherman-- Incorrect - there is no information about fishermen, who are with Samual.