Critical Reasoning

tricky question. Selected E first , but agree that answer can be D only.

D denies the fast that the quality of blend is proportional to the Q of components


may god help me read the language of the answere CAREFULLY during test date. VERY IMPORTANT

After thorough reading I found that C is not weakening at all, but its not supporting or strengthening either. It seems neutral but tempting.

I cannot understand the meaning of option D.

IMO (D) what's OA btw???

Thanks Sud,
Good problem!

close competition b/w D and E, but finally D won.
IMO too (D), since D really proves that argument is incorrect.

The world's finest single-malt whiskies come from the highland of Scotland. If the quality of the blended whisky derives from the quality of its component ingredients, then MacDuff's whisky must be the finest whisky in the world, because it blends no fewer than five Scotland's finest single-malt whiskies.

Premise 1: world's finest SINGLE-malt whiskies: let's say each has score: 8,8,9,9,9
Premise 2: Quality of blended whisky derives from quality of its component indredients: let's say f(M) = Quality of MacDuff's whisky.
Premise 3: MacDuff's whisky blends >= 5 finest Scotland's SINGLE-malt whishkies
Conclusion: MacDuff's whisky must be NO. 1 -> f(M) must be the highest score. The issue here is we don't know how to formulate the f(M) and that is what we are looking for in the answer.


The argument above could be seriously weaken if which of the followin were true?

A. The more single-malt whiskies involved in the batch of blended whisky, the finer the quality of whisky. -> we can't tell f(M) is the biggest number as we don't know how to formulate the f(M)

B. Whereas many of MacDuff's competitors have been in industry for decades or even century, the MacDuff brand was created within the last decade by marketing committee. -> no information related to the quality of the Blended whisky

C. Including more than five single-malt whiskies in a blended whisky is a waste, because no one can taste that many component flavors. -> it does means we don't need more than 5 ingredients but it doesn't provide information to judge wether the f(M) is the highest score

D. A blended whisky is as fine as the average quality of its components. -> f(M) = Average ( Ingredients) <= Max(Ingredients). Therefore, this answer weakens the conclusion

E. The concept of "finest" in a whisky is a subjective measure that cannot be quantified in a statistically valid way. -> provide no information to tackle the conclusion

IMO D

Good question

I was choosing between E and C .. two wrong choices!!

Elimitaing a choice which our properly understanding what it is telling .. lesson learnt .. hope will be able to apply

IMO C


The world's finest single-malt whiskies come from the highland of Scotland. If the quality of the blended whisky derives from the quality of its component ingredients, then MacDuff's whisky must be the finest whisky in the world, because it blends no fewer than five Scotland's finest single-malt whiskies.

The argument above could be seriously weaken if which of the followin were true?

(A) The more single-malt whiskies involved in the batch of blended whisky, the finer the quality of whisky. False : This statement strenghtens the argument rather than weakens it

(B) Whereas many of MacDuff's competitors have been in industry for decades or even century, the MacDuff brand was created within the last decade by marketing committee. FALSE :This statement is out of scop. The argument gives no information about the link between the quality of the whisky and the age of its producers

(C) Including more than five single-malt whiskies in a blended whisky is a waste, because no one can taste that many component flavors. CORRECT : since melting more than five single whiskies doesnt improve the beverage quality but rather prevent from tasting the flavors, and since MacDuff's whisky is made from no fewer than 5 single malt whiskies, which means Five or more, the quality of MacDuff's whisky is not guaranteed. This statement weakens the argument rather than support or strenghten it


(D) A blended whisky is as fine as the average quality of its components. False : This statement gives information about the quality of mixed whiskies, which depend on the quality of its componets, but doesnt inform us on the difference between a single-melt whisky and a mixed whisky. So the quality of the mixed whisky canot be compared to that of a single-melt whisky.


(E) The concept of "finest" in a whisky is a subjective measure that cannot be quantified in a statistically valid way. False : this statement remains general an can either strenghten or weaken the argument.


The OA please !!!

I agree with D

I also picked C first, but I have to agree with D. My reason being that just because "having more than 5 single-malt whiskies... is a waste" does not necessarily have a negative impact on it being the finest whisky. For example, having more than 800 HP on the fastest sports car may not add additional top speed, but it doesn't mean that sports car is not the fastest car.

After reading some answers I do believe D is right... it was a tricky question for me and I fell for it.

soukaina wrote:IMO C


The world's finest single-malt whiskies come from the highland of Scotland. If the quality of the blended whisky derives from the quality of its component ingredients, then MacDuff's whisky must be the finest whisky in the world, because it blends no fewer than five Scotland's finest single-malt whiskies.

The argument above could be seriously weaken if which of the followin were true?

(A) The more single-malt whiskies involved in the batch of blended whisky, the finer the quality of whisky. False : This statement strenghtens the argument rather than weakens it

(B) Whereas many of MacDuff's competitors have been in industry for decades or even century, the MacDuff brand was created within the last decade by marketing committee. FALSE :This statement is out of scop. The argument gives no information about the link between the quality of the whisky and the age of its producers

(C) Including more than five single-malt whiskies in a blended whisky is a waste, because no one can taste that many component flavors. CORRECT : since melting more than five single whiskies doesnt improve the beverage quality but rather prevent from tasting the flavors, and since MacDuff's whisky is made from no fewer than 5 single malt whiskies, which means Five or more, the quality of MacDuff's whisky is not guaranteed. This statement weakens the argument rather than support or strenghten it


(D) A blended whisky is as fine as the average quality of its components. False : This statement gives information about the quality of mixed whiskies, which depend on the quality of its componets, but doesnt inform us on the difference between a single-melt whisky and a mixed whisky. So the quality of the mixed whisky canot be compared to that of a single-melt whisky.


(E) The concept of "finest" in a whisky is a subjective measure that cannot be quantified in a statistically valid way. False : this statement remains general an can either strenghten or weaken the argument.


The OA please !!!

Between C and D
C) One fact is provided: "no one can taste that many component factors". What does it mean? The taste is bad OR it's hard to recognize each component individually? People typically choose the former (bad taste). For this choice to be correct, there should be a direct link between the quality and how it tastes, AND "bad taste" is what the statement means.

D) This choice is more straightforward: if it's true, the act of putting many components flavors into a blend doesn't mean anything and hence, MacDuff's whisky might not be the finest.

To choose one that "seriously" weakens the argument, I pick D

OA is D.

I know that several people had asked for the OA. I was unable to find the source, but I did find that D was the official answer.

The reason for this is that if D is a blend of 5 whiskeys one of those 5 must be the "best." So if D is true and a blended whiskey is only as good as the average of the components then it will not be as good as the "best" of the single whiskies since the other 4 will bring down the average.

D

Clearly, unless all the components are the 'best' (which is not possible), the blend will always be averaged to a lower quality by one of the other components

I would go for C

I would go for C

I would go for C