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Alex Cake - Manhattan

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by ket » Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:30 pm
Normally it takes a week for a cake to become moldy in a refrigerator. The cake in Alex's refrigerator is moldy. Therefore, the cake in Alex's refrigerator must be at least a week old.

Which of the following, if true, strengthens the conclusion?

(A) Alex's refrigerator has not been cleaned in two years

(B) A blown fuse in Alex's building has deprived his refrigerator of electricity for the past five days.

(C)The cake had just been baked when it was placed in Alex's refrigerator; it has remained there ever since.

(D)A recent study demonstrated that 95% of refrigerators currently in use will keep a cake fresh for one week.

(E)The cake was baked on a Tuesday.

Please provide your explanations

I will post OA afterwards.
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by scoobydooby » Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:54 pm
would go for D

A. doesnt affect argument

B. weakens. cake may have been less than 7 days and got moldy


C. doesnt affect argument. no clue how long cake was in the refridgerator.

D. correct IMO. if cake remains fresh for a week. it must be lying over a week to get moldy. strengthens

E. irrelevant
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by schumi_gmat » Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:42 am
IMO D

Explanation same as scooby
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by vinaynp » Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:47 am
IMO D). For reasons explained in previous post.
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by awesomeusername » Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:53 am
I will have to go with (C).

What if the cake were left in the hot sun for 3 days, then shoved in the 'fridge? The it's certainly possible for the cake to have started to form mold after a few days, rather than a week. Statement (C) clears this from being possible. So I believe (C) strengthens the statement.
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by S.A » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:21 pm
It has to be D ( Using POE)

OA please?
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Re: Alex Cake - Manhattan

by amazonviper » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:42 pm
ket wrote:Normally it takes a week for a cake to become moldy in a refrigerator. The cake in Alex's refrigerator is moldy. Therefore, the cake in Alex's refrigerator must be at least a week old.

Which of the following, if true, strengthens the conclusion?

(A) Alex's refrigerator has not been cleaned in two years

(B) A blown fuse in Alex's building has deprived his refrigerator of electricity for the past five days.

(C)The cake had just been baked when it was placed in Alex's refrigerator; it has remained there ever since.

(D)A recent study demonstrated that 95% of refrigerators currently in use will keep a cake fresh for one week.

(E)The cake was baked on a Tuesday.

Please provide your explanations

I will post OA afterwards.
My first shot was C . But on a more thorough note I came up with D for reason explained above. OA please.
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by maverick2000 » Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:22 pm
I go with C too.
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by mehravikas » Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:34 pm
IMO - D
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by ket » Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:50 pm
Thank you everyone for your posts.

Well, here is the answer OAC and down there see explanation. Look at D - Irrelevant :):) This test is driving me crazy :) and I am kind of still not fully understanding C...


(C) CORRECT. Strengthen. If the cake had not been fresh when it was placed in the refrigerator, or if it had not been in the refrigerator continuously since then, it might have gotten moldy in less than a week. Therefore, knowing that the cake was fresh when it was placed in the refrigerator, and that it has been there ever since, gives us reason to think that the cake has been aging in the refrigerator at a normal rate.

(D) Irrelevant. This study only provides evidence to support the initial premise in the argument, namely, that "normally it takes a week for a cake to become moldy in a refrigerator." This answer choice does not state whether or not Alex's refrigerator is among the 95%; nor do we know anything else about this specific situation.
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by Vemuri » Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:42 pm
Good question. Thanks for posting
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by rahul.s » Sat Feb 13, 2010 3:23 am
yeah, good problem. i went with D as well. but in the end, C makes much more sense.
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by joseph32 » Sun May 15, 2016 11:26 pm
I agree with you guys. I also think that the right answer is D
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