Aid workers have worried that residents of the Eastern Gobi

This topic has expert replies

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 768
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 4:18 pm
Location: Berkeley, CA
Thanked: 387 times
Followed by:140 members
Aid workers have worried that residents of the Eastern Gobi Refugee Camp might be at risk for beriberi, a severe deficiency of Thiamine, a B vitamin. Thiamine is found in high concentrations in cereal grains, and many of the residents have grain free diets because of allergies. Doctors and nutritionists assigned to investigate the situation have disagreed, noting that the residents grow sustenance amounts of potatoes, kale, and cauliflower on the surrounding farm lands, and these foods provide substantial sources of Thiamine as well. Because the residents of this refugee camp do not have any allergies to any of these latter foods, and crops have been good because of favorable weather conditions, their risk of beriberi is much lower than originally thought.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

(A) The first is evidence in support of the conclusion of the argument; the second is that conclusion.
(B) The first is evidence that seems to contradict the conclusion of the argument; the second is that conclusion.
(C) The first is the conclusion of the argument; the second calls the conclusion of the argument into question.
(D) The first is the conclusion of the argument; the second is an alternate interpretation of this conclusion.
(E) The first is evidence in support of the conclusion of the argument; the second is evidence that contradicts the conclusion of the argument.


For a discussion of GMAT CR boldface structure questions, as well as the OA & solution to this particular question, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-criti ... questions/

Mike :-)
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
https://gmat.magoosh.com/
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 391
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:13 am
Thanked: 50 times
Followed by:4 members

by rakeshd347 » Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:41 pm
Mike@Magoosh wrote:Aid workers have worried that residents of the Eastern Gobi Refugee Camp might be at risk for beriberi, a severe deficiency of Thiamine, a B vitamin. Thiamine is found in high concentrations in cereal grains, and many of the residents have grain free diets because of allergies. Doctors and nutritionists assigned to investigate the situation have disagreed, noting that the residents grow sustenance amounts of potatoes, kale, and cauliflower on the surrounding farm lands, and these foods provide substantial sources of Thiamine as well. Because the residents of this refugee camp do not have any allergies to any of these latter foods, and crops have been good because of favorable weather conditions, their risk of beriberi is much lower than originally thought.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

(A) The first is evidence in support of the conclusion of the argument; the second is that conclusion.
(B) The first is evidence that seems to contradict the conclusion of the argument; the second is that conclusion.
(C) The first is the conclusion of the argument; the second calls the conclusion of the argument into question.
(D) The first is the conclusion of the argument; the second is an alternate interpretation of this conclusion.
(E) The first is evidence in support of the conclusion of the argument; the second is evidence that contradicts the conclusion of the argument.


For a discussion of GMAT CR boldface structure questions, as well as the OA & solution to this particular question, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-criti ... questions/

Mike :-)
I would go with B

First second boldface is definitely the conclusion of the argument. First bold face is the evidence, which suggests that risk of beriberi is much higher so basically it contradicts the conclusion.

A and E can be eliminated because first boldface doesn't support the conclusion.
C and D can be eliminated because first boldface is not the conclusion. If you do the "why" test C and D fails.