tough gmatclub Critical reasoning

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tough gmatclub Critical reasoning

by arora007 » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:31 am
The state legislature has proposed a law that would require registered voters to bring photo ID with them to polling places. The law is intended to curb potential fraud by preventing anyone else from voting under a registered voter's name. A 2004 survey found that the names of over 1,500 people who had died were still on voter rolls, and another 672 people were still listed as registered voters even though they had either moved out of the state or lost the right to vote due to felony conviction.

Which of the following is most like the passage in logical structure?

A) A local bank begins requiring additional identification before allowing access to safety deposit boxes. This decision is made after a series of robberies.
B) An elementary school institutes a rule requiring anyone picking up children after school to be issued a tag that will hang in their car, proving that they are either the child's parent or someone approved by the parents to transport the child. This decision is made after teachers notice children riding home in different cars on successive days.
C) A gym requires proof that patrons live within a 10-mile radius of the facility before issuing membership. This decision is made after the number of patrons increases beyond the gym's capacity.
D) An online auction site requires users to answer a "secret question" before completing checkout with a credit card. This decision is made after the site is forced to return money to patrons whose accounts were charged with unauthorized purchases after their credit card numbers were stolen.
E) Callers into a talk radio show are asked to identify themselves by first name and town of residence. This decision is made after the show's host becomes curious about the locations of his callers.

Why is D wrong
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by AIM GMAT » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:37 am
Ohh D is wrong , i too picked D. Whats the OA ?

May be the analogy we are trying to establish is not the correct one and we landed marking the trap answer .
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by arora007 » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:42 am
The OA is B, and I am stumped with the explanation.

[spoiler]Situation: A proposed law would require people to bring photo ID to polling places when they vote to curb potential fraud.
Reasoning: Which alternate situation is most like the attempt to deter potential fraud described in the passage? The study described in the passage reveals a weakness in record-keeping that could potentially allow someone to vote under the name of a person who should no longer be voting in the state. By requiring voters to prove their identities, the proposed law will apparently concentrate on stopping potential fraud before it starts.
1. The bank's decision involves a form of identification, but it is made only after a certain problem has already occurred.
2. The elementary school's rule about proper identification is issued in response to the perception of a potential problem children being picked up by drivers other than their parents.
3. The gym's decision is made for reasons of inadequate space, not to prevent harm to a person or system.
4. The auction site's decision is made in response to theft that has already occurred.
5. In this example identification has the meaning of self-identification rather than proof. Additionally, the decision is made out of curiosity rather than caution.[/spoiler]

now one more question, is this question like GMAT or very unlike GMAT?
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by AIM GMAT » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:46 am
I totally agree with you , i m also not convinced with the explanation .
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by Adam@Knewton » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:39 pm
No, this is not a GMAT-like question. It is an LSAT style question called Parallel Reasoning. They are considered the most challenging type of LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

The correct answer much exactly match the generalized reasoning of the prompt. Let's generalize the prompt:

A decision was made to require identification when previously none had been required. This was because there was evidence of many many probable instances of fraud, but no actual reported fraud having yet occurred.

(A) involves actual fraud having already occurred, which is different.
(C) is also in response to a real problem, not a potential problem, and does not involve identification but proof of residence.
(D) is also in response to a real problem, not a potential problem.
(E) is in response to pure curiosity, and also does not involve identification at all, just asking people.

(B) has all the necessary pieces: 1) There is the potential for a problem that is observed, but nothing bad has yet happened; 2) Real identification is going to be required in the future to prevent an actual problem from ever happening.

Most importantly, to reiterate, this is an LSAT-style question, and you should not see it on the GMAT!
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