strengthen - Political Advertisement

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Gmat09_5ALL: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 52; Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:23 am

by Gmat09_5ALL » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:25 pm

6.14
Political Advertisement:
Mayor Delmont's critics complain about the jobs that were lost in the city under Delmont's leadership. Yet the fact is that not only were more jobs created than were eliminated, but the average pay for these new jobs has been higher than the average pay
for jobs citywide every year since Delmont took office. So there can be no question that throughout Delmont's tenure the average paycheck in this city has been getting steadily bigger.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument in the advertisement?
A. The average pay for jobs created in the city during the past three years was higher than the average pay for jobs created in the city earlier in Mayor Delmont's tenure.
B. Average pay in the city was at a ten-year low when Mayor Delmont took office.
C. Some of the jobs created in the city during Mayor Delmont's tenure have in the meantime been eliminated again.
D. The average pay for jobs eliminated in the city during Mayor Delmont's tenure has been roughly equal every year to the average pay for jobs citywide.
E. The average pay for jobs in the city is currently higher than it is for jobs in the suburbs surrounding the city.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:25 pm

tanviet: Legendary Member; Posts: 1404; Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 6:55 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 18 times

by tanviet » Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:19 am

D is an assumption and so of course strengthen although strenthener is not neccessarily an assumption it is very good if strenthener is an assumption.

tanviet: Legendary Member; Posts: 1404; Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 6:55 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 18 times

by tanviet » Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:38 am

arguement about statistics absolutely involve representativeness or simple mathematics (pls, read Princeton Verbal Workout for this matter)

here arguement involve simple mathematics.

hypermeganet: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 24; Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:41 am; Thanked: 2 times

by hypermeganet » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:09 am

Agree, D is correct.

gmatv09: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 256; Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:31 pm; Thanked: 3 times

by gmatv09 » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:32 am

what is wrong with A?

hypermeganet: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 24; Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:41 am; Thanked: 2 times

by hypermeganet » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:39 am

gmatv09 wrote:what is wrong with A?

Mayor Delmont's critics complain about the jobs that were lost in the city under Delmont's leadership. Yet the fact is that not only were more jobs created than were eliminated, but the average pay for these new jobs has been higher than the average pay
for jobs citywide every year since Delmont took office. So there can be no question that throughout Delmont's tenure the average paycheck in this city has been getting steadily bigger.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument in the advertisement?
A. The average pay for jobs created in the city during the past three years was higher than the average pay for jobs created in the city earlier in Mayor Delmont's tenure.

The stimulus states that the average job created has had its average salary be higher than the overall job pay. All A does is really restate what was already said in the stimulus. If this were an inference question you could arguably put that as a response. But as a strengthen question, you need something that makes the argument more solid. D does this.

gmatv09: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 256; Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:31 pm; Thanked: 3 times

by gmatv09 » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:52 am

gotcha... thanks

Karen: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 101; Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:32 pmFollowed by: 16 members; Location: NY and Boston; Thanked: 56 times

by Karen » Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:37 pm

Notice that this is a bait-and-switch kind of comparison -- moving from talking about one thing to talking about something else entirely. The stimulus says that the new jobs that have been created have been greater in number than the ones that were lost, but then says they've been higher in pay than the *average*. If the new jobs were higher in pay than the jobs that were lost, why not say so? Whenever they do this kind of switch -- trying to prove that X is better than Y by talking about how X is better than Z -- you should be suspicious.

D strengthens the argument by establishing that the new jobs really do pay better than the ones that were lost.

Karen van Hoek, PhD
Verbal Specialist

Test Prep New York
maximize your score, minimize your stress
www.testprepny.com
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Cheryl Chen: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 5:23 am

by Cheryl Chen » Tue Aug 13, 2013 12:37 am

Karen wrote:Notice that this is a bait-and-switch kind of comparison -- moving from talking about one thing to talking about something else entirely. The stimulus says that the new jobs that have been created have been greater in number than the ones that were lost, but then says they've been higher in pay than the *average*. If the new jobs were higher in pay than the jobs that were lost, why not say so? Whenever they do this kind of switch -- trying to prove that X is better than Y by talking about how X is better than Z -- you should be suspicious.

D strengthens the argument by establishing that the new jobs really do pay better than the ones that were lost.

Your explanation reminds me of something to be noticed in CR questions, but what I still don't understand is how can I realize that the author is trying to prove that X is better than Y? Is this the general rule in all of the bait-and-switch questions?

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