CR - Weaken question

This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:47 pm
Followed by:1 members

CR - Weaken question

by Sush De » Sat Aug 03, 2013 11:12 am
Members of the staff at the local daycare suggest that parents would have more incentive to pick up their children on time if the parents were assessed a fine after arriving more than 10 minutes late to pick up their children.

Which of the following, assuming that it is a realistic possibility, argues the most strongly against the effectiveness of the suggestion above?

A. By replacing social norms with market norms, fines might induce parents to weigh the "costs" of picking their children up late and, as a a result, to frequently choose to be late.

B. There might be irreconcilable disagreements among the daycare staff about whether the late fines should be imposed.

C. Late fines might cause some parents to enroll their children in other day cares.

D. Removing the late fine policy might actually increase the number of tardy pick-ups.

E. Some parents might pick up their children late no matter what level of fine is imposed against them.

Source - Veritas

[spoiler] OA - A
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Sat Aug 03, 2013 3:39 pm
Hi Sush De,

This CR prompt involves a "plan", so we need to know how the plan is supposed to work and what it is meant to accomplish.

The purpose of the plan is to get parents to pick up their children from the local daycare ON TIME.
To motivate the parents, the daycare plans to fine parents who are more than 10 minutes late.

In effect, the "threat" of a fine is supposed to make parents show up on time.

The question asks us to weaken the idea that the plan will work, so we're looking for an answer that states that parents WON'T pick up their children on time. The correct answer will probably talk about how the threat of the fine won't work as planned.

The correct answer (as you've noted) points out a reason why the plan won't work and address all the subjects in the prompt (the parents, showing up late, the fine).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2193
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:30 pm
Location: Vermont and Boston, MA
Thanked: 1186 times
Followed by:512 members
GMAT Score:770

by David@VeritasPrep » Sat Aug 03, 2013 4:29 pm
I really like this question from our critical reasoning book homework section.

Would any student like to offer an explanation on this one?
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:47 pm
Followed by:1 members

by Sush De » Sat Aug 03, 2013 8:12 pm
Thanks Rich for your reply. I did understand that we need to check for an answer which weakens the conclusion that enforcing a fine will avoid late pick-up by parents. So I was thinking that option C or E would be right. Is C wrong because it talks about children being put in a different daycare (a new plan), which is not exactly weakening the given conclusion? Also, wouldn't option E hurt the conclusion? I failed to understand what option A meant. Grateful if you can elaborate on why answer choice A is correct.

Thanks.

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:56 pm
Hi Sush De,

Sometimes wrong answers are distracting because you "think" that they have something to do with the given prompt. The wording of CR questions is always specific, so the correct answer has to be just as specific.

The way to weaken a "plan" is to find an answer that proves that the plan WON'T WORK; if an answer talks about something other than the aspects of the plan, then it can't be correct (those answers are outside of the Focus of the prompt).

Answer C discusses how parents would switch schools. That doesn't necessarily weaken the plan, if the parents pick up their children on time AT THE OTHER SCHOOL ("other school" is outside of the Focus).

Answer E discusses a situation in which the parents are late no matter what. This answer doesn't weaken the plan so much as it says that there's no way to make those parents pick their kids up on time, no matter what you try. This logic is beyond the Main Point of the prompt.

Answer A discusses how the plan could have the OPPOSITE effect of what is intended. In effect, the plan won't do what it was supposed to do. This is a great way to weaken a plan.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:47 pm
Followed by:1 members

by Sush De » Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:00 pm
Thanks a lot!