Temporary services firm - GMAT Prep Exam pack 2

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Temporary services firm - GMAT Prep Exam pack 2

by prata » Thu Aug 04, 2016 11:47 pm
Temporary services firms supply trained workers to other companies on a temporary basis. Temporary services firms lose business when the economy shows signs of beginning to weaken. They gain business when the economy begins to recover but often lose business again when the economy stabilizes. These firms have begun to gain business in the present weak economy. The economy therefore must be beginning to recover.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

A. Temporary-services firms are more likely to regain old clients than to acquire new ones when the economy begins to recover.

B. Temporary-services firms do not gain business when an already weak economy worsens.

C. New companies do not often hire temporary help until they have been in business for some time.

D. Companies that use workers from temporary-services firms seldom hire those workers to fill permanent positions.

E. Temporary-services firms can most easily find qualified new workers when the economy is at its weakest.
Last edited by prata on Fri Aug 05, 2016 5:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Aug 05, 2016 5:34 am
Please add to the question stem to your post.
I believe that the prompt asks for an ASSUMPTION, as follows:
prata wrote:Temporary services firms supply trained workers to other companies on a temporary basis. Temporary services firms lose business when the economy shows signs of beginning to weaken. They gain business when the economy begins to recover but often lose business again when the economy stabilizes. These firms have begun to gain business in the present weak economy. The economy therefore must be beginning to recover.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the above argument depends?

A. Temporary-services firms are more likely to regain old clients than to acquire new ones when the economy begins to recover.

B. Temporary-services firms do not gain business when an already weak economy worsens.

C. New companies do not often hire temporary help until they have been in business for some time.

D. Companies that use workers from temporary-services firms seldom hire those workers to fill permanent positions.

E. Temporary-services firms can most easily find qualified new workers when the economy is at its weakest.
Premise:
Temporary service firms have begun to gain business in the present weak economy.
Conclusion:
The economy must be beginning to recover.

An assumption is a statement that MUST BE TRUE for the conclusion to be valid.
Apply the NEGATION TEST.
When the correct answer choice is negated, the conclusion will be invalidated.

B, negated:
Temporary-services firms gain business when an already weak economy worsens.
Here, the gaining of business is linked to a WORSENING economy, invalidating the conclusion that the economy discussed in the passage must be beginning to recover.
Since the negation of B invalidates the conclusion, B is an assumption: a statement that MUST BE TRUE for the conclusion to be valid.

The correct answer is B.
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by prata » Fri Aug 05, 2016 8:22 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:Please add to the question stem to your post.
I believe that the prompt asks for an ASSUMPTION, as follows:
prata wrote:Temporary services firms supply trained workers to other companies on a temporary basis. Temporary services firms lose business when the economy shows signs of beginning to weaken. They gain business when the economy ......, the conclusion will be invalidated.

B, negated:
Temporary-services firms gain business when an already weak economy worsens.
Here, the gaining of business is linked to a WORSENING economy, invalidating the conclusion that the economy discussed in the passage must be beginning to recover.
Since the negation of B invalidates the conclusion, B is an assumption: a statement that MUST BE TRUE for the conclusion to be valid.

The correct answer is B.
Thank you very much. Just like you mentioned about negation test, are there other such tips which can be useful for solving CR problems? Like links to such tips on this forum?

Thanks in advance.

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by meenakshimiyer » Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:00 pm
Using negation for option B) Temporary-services firms do gain business when an already weak economy worsens
is just opposite of what is stated in the conclusion and hence it weakens the conclusion
Hence, B is the answer.