standardized a household

Expert replies

Onell: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 88; Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:20 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Onell » Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:31 pm

By analyzing the garbage of a large number of average-sized households, a group of modern urban anthropologists has found that a household discards less food the more standardized- made up of canned and prepackaged foods-its diet is. The more standardized a household's diet is, however, the greater the quantities of fresh produce the household throws away.
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) An increasing number of households rely on a highly standardized diet.
(B) The less standardized a household's diet is, the more nonfood waste the household discards.
(C) The less standardized a household's diet is, the smaller is the proportion of fresh produce in
the household's food waste.
(D) The less standardized a household's diet is, the more canned and prepackaged foods the
household discards as waste.
(E) The more fresh produce a household buys, the more fresh produce it throws away.

Logical relationships
Premise 1 : The more standardized--> The less food discarded
Premise 2: The more standardized --> the more waste on fresh product.
Contrapositive (not Y --> not X) : Not (the more waste on fresh product) --> not (the more standardized).
But OA d is Mistaken Negation.
Not (the more standardized) --> not (the less food discarded).

How could it be correct. Am I missing sth..

[/spoiler]

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:31 pm

gmat1011: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 160; Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:41 am; Thanked: 7 times

by gmat1011 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:05 pm

beautiful! I got this wrong by picking C but this question is beautiful

Contrapositives based on your arrows:

1. For Premise 1: Not more// aka LESS standardized food <--- Not less// aka MORE discarded food
2. For Premise 2: Not more// aka LESS standardized food <--- Not more// aka LESS waste on fresh product

So for P1 imagine a circle called "discarded food" expanding in size. Within this circle imagine a chunk of the circle called "standardized food" contracting fast, that is doing the opposite of the larger circle.

For P2 imagine within the fast contracting "standardized food" chunk of the circle a subset called "waste of fresh product" also contracting. ----> So as the "discarded food" circle is expanding, the sub chunk called "waste of fresh product" is contracting.
This shows that the rest of the ever expanding "discarded food" circle is being filled up by some other quantity being wasted.
This waste is the canned and prepackaged food since the world of this question is only inhabited by standardized food products and fresh products.

---> option D says the same thing

mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 amFollowed by: 26 members; Thanked: 56 times

by mundasingh123 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:32 pm

Onell wrote:By analyzing the garbage of a large number of average-sized households, a group of modern urban anthropologists has found that a household discards less food the more standardized- made up of canned and prepackaged foods-its diet is. The more standardized a household's diet is, however, the greater the quantities of fresh produce the household throws away.
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) An increasing number of households rely on a highly standardized diet.
(B) The less standardized a household's diet is, the more nonfood waste the household discards.
(C) The less standardized a household's diet is, the smaller is the proportion of fresh produce in
the household's food waste.
(D) The less standardized a household's diet is, the more canned and prepackaged foods the
household discards as waste.
(E) The more fresh produce a household buys, the more fresh produce it throws away.

ot (the more standardized) --> not (the less food discarded)
[/spoiler]

Would U be Kind enuf to reveal the source ?

Onell: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 88; Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:20 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Onell » Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:36 pm

mundasingh123 wrote:
Onell wrote:By analyzing the garbage of a large number of average-sized households, a group of modern urban anthropologists has found that a household discards less food the more standardized- made up of canned and prepackaged foods-its diet is. The more standardized a household's diet is, however, the greater the quantities of fresh produce the household throws away.
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) An increasing number of households rely on a highly standardized diet.
(B) The less standardized a household's diet is, the more nonfood waste the household discards.
(C) The less standardized a household's diet is, the smaller is the proportion of fresh produce in
the household's food waste.
(D) The less standardized a household's diet is, the more canned and prepackaged foods the
household discards as waste.
(E) The more fresh produce a household buys, the more fresh produce it throws away.

ot (the more standardized) --> not (the less food discarded)
[/spoiler]
Would U be Kind enuf to reveal the source ?

Paper Test

gmat1011: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 160; Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:41 am; Thanked: 7 times

by gmat1011 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:40 pm

ha ha... turns out the OA is C that I initially picked and not D?

I felt so convinced about D after finding out the answer

Good question Munda, Onell --- b/w are you a 1L in a law school? - do you know the source?

seems like it is one of the 1000 CR questions

https://www.beatthegmat.com/1000-cr-test3-no8-t1934.html
https://www.urch.com/forums/gmat-critica ... rbage.html

prachich1987: Legendary Member; Posts: 752; Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:47 amFollowed by: 10 members; Thanked: 20 times; GMAT Score:700

by prachich1987 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:03 am

Onell wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:
Onell wrote:By analyzing the garbage of a large number of average-sized households, a group of modern urban anthropologists has found that a household discards less food the more standardized- made up of canned and prepackaged foods-its diet is. The more standardized a household's diet is, however, the greater the quantities of fresh produce the household throws away.
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
(A) An increasing number of households rely on a highly standardized diet.
(B) The less standardized a household's diet is, the more nonfood waste the household discards.
(C) The less standardized a household's diet is, the smaller is the proportion of fresh produce in
the household's food waste.
(D) The less standardized a household's diet is, the more canned and prepackaged foods the
household discards as waste.
(E) The more fresh produce a household buys, the more fresh produce it throws away.

ot (the more standardized) --> not (the less food discarded)
[/spoiler]
Would U be Kind enuf to reveal the source ?

Paper Test

which paper test?

GMAT Course Reviews

563 reviews

1168 reviews

431 reviews

359 reviews

147 reviews

5/5

5 Star (563 Reviews)

"Target Test Prep is the closest to the official version of the GMAT exam, about 99% accuracy in terms of the quality and quantity of information. The course has excellently created singular sets of focused lessons and tests for every possible topic that one could come across in the official GMAT exam."

"The TTP course maximizes the efficiency of the time you spend studying. It will take time and effort but I could almost guarantee that if you complete the course exactly as it is laid out you will get an amazing score. They also have a very responsive team willing to help with any questions you might have."

"TTP has two things that I think no other test prep company offers: A teaching approach that reinforces understanding and an attitude that will give you the mental preparedness needed to succeed on the test. TTP gives you a deep understanding of the concept you need to know while teaching you how to think."

Write a Review