Water Plants

Expert replies

rjain84: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 47; Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 11:25 am; Thanked: 1 times

by rjain84 » Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:30 pm

New York is going through a recession, and within a month, all local domestically- owned water plants in the town are expected to go out of business permanently due to competition with Enron, a large domestically-owned water plant that opened in a nearby town last year. However, these water plants will surely re-open shortly after they close; since the foreign-owned water plant Grand Hugo came to New York last year, every water plant that has closed temporarily due to competition with Grand Hugo has re- opened, usually with the same ownership, within a couple days.
Which of the following, if true, is most likely to undermine the conclusion of this argument?

A) Several major clients of Grand Hugo have recently switched to Enron due to trade laws that give tax breaks to clients of domestic heavy industry.

B) Many water plants in New York create galvanized water that is clear, a popular variety of water that is not sold by either Grand Hugo or Enron.

C) New York has more water plants operational today than it has ever had in the past.

D) Over the next month, New York is planning to create several large municipal projects, including two suspension bridges and a new football stadium, which will require large amounts of water.

E) The vast majority of the water plants that have closed because of competition with Grand Hugo and then re-opened are domestically-owned.

OA: E

Will ask my doubts after some discussion.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:30 pm

Ankur87: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 110; Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 4:39 am; Thanked: 9 times; GMAT Score:640

by Ankur87 » Wed Feb 20, 2013 5:36 pm

rjain84 wrote:New York is going through a recession, and within a month, all local domestically- owned water plants in the town are expected to go out of business permanently due to competition with Enron, a large domestically-owned water plant that opened in a nearby town last year. However, these water plants will surely re-open shortly after they close; since the foreign-owned water plant Grand Hugo came to New York last year, every water plant that has closed temporarily due to competition with Grand Hugo has re- opened, usually with the same ownership, within a couple days.
Which of the following, if true, is most likely to undermine the conclusion of this argument?

A) Several major clients of Grand Hugo have recently switched to Enron due to trade laws that give tax breaks to clients of domestic heavy industry.

B) Many water plants in New York create galvanized water that is clear, a popular variety of water that is not sold by either Grand Hugo or Enron.

C) New York has more water plants operational today than it has ever had in the past.

D) Over the next month, New York is planning to create several large municipal projects, including two suspension bridges and a new football stadium, which will require large amounts of water.

E) The vast majority of the water plants that have closed because of competition with Grand Hugo and then re-opened are domestically-owned.

OA: E

Will ask my doubts after some discussion.

IMO: E
A) Several major clients of Grand Hugo have recently switched to Enron due to trade laws that give tax breaks to clients of domestic heavy industry.
-> clients of grand hugo shifted to enron? so..? out of scope.

B) Many water plants in New York create galvanized water that is clear, a popular variety of water that is not sold by either Grand Hugo or Enron.
-> many water plants sell clear water, but it is not mentioned that people distinguish water by clarity.

C) New York has more water plants operational today than it has ever had in the past.
-> more water plants are operational.. so what they all can close.

D) Over the next month, New York is planning to create several large municipal projects, including two suspension bridges and a new football stadium, which will require large amounts of water.
-> it is not mentioned that enron can not supply large amount of water.

E) The vast majority of the water plants that have closed because of competition with Grand Hugo and then re-opened are domestically-owned.
-> no reason to ignore this option, i think one reason can be foreign owned and domestically-owned.

Practicegmat: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 27; Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:04 am

by Practicegmat » Wed Feb 20, 2013 9:16 pm

still not able to nderstand why correct option is E ? Could someone explain?
Thanks
Kusumita

aditya8062: Legendary Member; Posts: 774; Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:32 amFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 46 times

by aditya8062 » Wed Feb 20, 2013 10:09 pm

my pick is E . in fact this CR is completely based on one GMAT prep CR that talks of discount and non discount stores in US .
in this CR option E is basically bringing forth that the comparison that the argument is trying to draw cannot be drawn as it not the same leveled field
something that happened with HUGO ,a foreign based plant ,cannot be a parameter to judge if same thing will happen with ENRON ,a domestic plant .
this fact is very true even in real life situation

Gowri@CrackVerbal: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 123; Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:34 amFollowed by: 9 members; Location: Bengaluru, India; Thanked: 46 times

by Gowri@CrackVerbal » Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:20 am

What is the conclusion here? That all the domestically-owned water plants that close down due to competition with Enron (also domestically owned) will reopen in a few days.

This conclusion is drawn based on a previous incident - last year, every water plant that closed down when the Grand Hugo (foreign-owned) came to town, reopened within a few days.

How do we undermine this conclusion? By proving that it has been drawn based on an improper example.

Option E does exactly this - it points out that the previous incident mentioned was about domestic water plants closing down and reopening in response to the arrival of a foreign plant, whereas the case at hand involves only domestic plants.

rjain84: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 47; Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 11:25 am; Thanked: 1 times

by rjain84 » Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:31 am

Conclusion of the stimulus is:
"these water plants (all local domestically- owned water plants in the town that will go out of business permanently due to competition with Enron) will surely re-open shortly after they close"

Option E : The vast majority of the water plants that have closed because of competition with Grand Hugo and then re-opened are domestically-owned.

This answer choice is either supporting or have no effect on the conclusion but clearly not undermining it.

Can anyone please provide a solid reasoning in support of this answer choice?

GMAT Course Reviews

563 reviews

1168 reviews

431 reviews

359 reviews

147 reviews

5/5

5 Star (563 Reviews)

"Target Test Prep is the closest to the official version of the GMAT exam, about 99% accuracy in terms of the quality and quantity of information. The course has excellently created singular sets of focused lessons and tests for every possible topic that one could come across in the official GMAT exam."

"The TTP course maximizes the efficiency of the time you spend studying. It will take time and effort but I could almost guarantee that if you complete the course exactly as it is laid out you will get an amazing score. They also have a very responsive team willing to help with any questions you might have."

"TTP has two things that I think no other test prep company offers: A teaching approach that reinforces understanding and an attitude that will give you the mental preparedness needed to succeed on the test. TTP gives you a deep understanding of the concept you need to know while teaching you how to think."

Write a Review