Lesson: Evaluate the Conclusion Questions

Comment on Evaluate the Conclusion Questions

Hi Brent,

I selected ans choice A. My reason was that if few students use wooden sleds now then more number of students are using plastic so there are high accidents


https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-the-past-most-children-who-went-sledding-in-the-winter-20745.html
gmat-admin's picture

Link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-the-past-most-children-who-went-sledding-i...

Answer choice A (A few children still use traditional wooden sleds) actually STRENGTHENS the argument, because it suggests that it's MORE likely that the increased injuries were due to the plastic sleds.

Hi Brent,

can u pls help why A is not the right answer ?

Vargonia has just introduced a legal requirement that student-teacher ratios in government-funded schools not exceed a certain limit. All Vargonian children are entitled to education, free of charge, in these schools. When a recession occurs and average incomes fall, the number of children enrolled in government-funded schools tends to increase. Therefore, though most employment opportunities contract in economic recessions, getting a teaching job in Vargonia's government-funded schools will not be made more difficult by a recession.

Which of the following would be most important to determine in order to evaluate the argument?

(A) Whether in Vargonia there are any schools not funded by the government that offer children an education free of charge

(B) Whether the number of qualified applicants for teaching positions in government-funded schools increases significantly during economic recessions

(C) What the current student-teacher ratio in Vargonia's government-funded schools is

(D) What proportion of Vargonia's workers currently hold jobs as teachers in government-funded schools

(E) Whether in the past a number of government funded schools in Vargonia have had student teacher ratios well in excess of the new limit.

Can u please explain why A cant be the answer ?

My point is " Whether in Vargonia there are any schools not funded by the government that offer children an education free of charge.

In my opinion in case the answer to this question is Yes OR A No does have have an impact to the question ? If the answer is yes that non govt funded schools are giving free eductaion at this point would mean that children dont have to leave these schools to join the Govt funded schools and then the govt schools might not have to hire more teachers to maintain the student : teacher ratio ? If ans is No then clearly it will increase employment opportunities for teachers in govt funded schools ? So according to me this is an important questions to evaluate the argument .




gmat-admin's picture

Answer choice A is very appealing. In fact, I also thought it was pretty decent option (before reading answer choice B :-)

Your line of reasoning is that, during a recession, it may be the case that "children DON'T have to leave these schools to join the Govt funded schools" (because there may be non-govt-funded schools offering free education). In other words, it may be the case that a recession does NOT cause an enrollment increase at government-funded schools.

This all makes perfect sense, . . . . . . until we recognize that the passage explicitly tells that, during a recession, "the number of children enrolled in government-funded schools tends to increase."

So, this rules out answer choice A.

Hi Brent,

Can you please explain why E is incorrect?

https://gmatclub.com/forum/normally-the-pineal-gland-governs-a-person-s-sleep-wake-134850.html

Thank you in advance,
gmat-admin's picture

Question link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/normally-the-pineal-gland-governs-a-person-s-...

Conclusion: the neural pathway by which the pineal gland receives information from the eye probably does not pass through the visual cortex.

(E) Whether there are any people with normal vision whose melatonin levels respond abnormally to periods of light and darkness
This question will not help us evaluate the conclusion.
First, "ANY people" could refer to just 1 person, or it could refer to all people.
Second (and more importantly), even if the answer to the question were YES, there could be a variety of reasons for abnormal levels.

Cheers,
Brent

Thank you, Brent,

Do you mean that those "ANY people" might have some illnesses that cause those abnormalities, but it doesn't say help or imperils the conclusion that "neural pathway by which the pineal gland receives information from the eye probably does not pass through the visual cortex."

Am I right?
gmat-admin's picture

That's correct.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/for-years-the-beautiful-renaissance-buildings-in-palitito-have-been-da-67489.html

Hi Brent,

Could you please explain why ans choice E is wrong ? My reason for selecting E was that since there aren’t enough of parking spaces, the buses have to drive around and not park, hence leading to increased pollution. However, with the introduction of new parking spaces, this won’t be the case and this would then strengthen the author‘s argument.
gmat-admin's picture

Question link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/for-years-the-beautiful-renaissance-buildings...

The conclusion is: The new parking will significantly diminish the bus exhaust damage to Palitito's buildings.

(E) Some of the tour buses that are unable to find parking drive around Palitito while their passengers are visiting a site.
It's important to remember that, in order to decrease exhaust damage, we need bus drivers to turn off their engines (upon finding a parking spot).
Answer choice E does nothing to support the idea that bus drivers will be turning off their engines.
We are told that idling produces as much exhaust as driving.

I think you might be misreading the passage. It doesn't say that the new parking spaces are proposed. It says that the new parking spaces are already available to bus drivers. So answer choice E is just telling us that bus drivers who are unable to find available parking (among the newly-introduced spots) will just drive around.

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Brent,

I am unable to understand why D is incorrect and How B is a strong way to evaluate the conclusion

https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-certain-cultivated-herb-is-one-of-a-group-of-closely-related-plants-205067.html

Thanks
gmat-admin's picture

Question link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-certain-cultivated-herb-is-one-of-a-group-o...

A certain cultivated herb is one of a group of closely related plants that thrive in soil with high concentrations of metals that are toxic to most other plants. Agronomists studying the growth of this herb have discovered that it produces large amounts of histidine, an amino acid that, in test-tube solutions, renders these metals chemically inert. Hence, the herb's high histidine production must be the key feature that allows it to grow in metal-rich soils.

In evaluating the argument, it would be most important to determine which of the following?
----------------------------------------

This is a Cause and Effect argument.
The conclusion is that the herb's high histidine production CAUSES the soil to be plant-friendly.

Let's use the strategy of "answering" the question posed by each answer choice.

(B) Whether others of the closely related group of plants also produce histidine in large quantities
We're told that closely related plants thrive in soil with high concentrations of toxic metals.
So, if the closely related plants DO produce histidine in large quantities, then that would strengthen the conclusion that the herb's high histidine production CAUSES the soil to be plant-friendly.
Conversely, if the closely related plants DO NOT produce histidine in large quantities, then that would weaken the conclusion that the herb's high histidine production CAUSES the soil to be plant-friendly. That is, there would have to be a different thing that causes the related plants to thrive in toxic soil.
Keep B

(D) Whether growing the herb in soil with high concentrations of the metals will, over time, reduce their concentrations in the soil
Let's say that the herb's growth DOES reduce concentrations of metal in the soil. Does this strengthen the conclusion that the herb's high histidine production CAUSES the soil to be plant-friendly? No. All we would be able to conclude is that the herb is doing SOMETHING to reduce the concentrations, but we wouldn't be able to link the reduction to HISTIDINE production.
Conversely, if the herb's growth DOES NOT reduce concentrations of metal in the soil, then we would know that the herb's high histidine production does NOT CAUSE the soil to be plant-friendly.
So, answer choice D may or may not be helpful in evaluating the argument, depending on the answer to the question.

Answer choice B, on the other hand, is helpful in evaluating the argument regardless of the answer to the question.

Does that help?

Hi Brent,
In this question, http://gmatclub.com/forum/a-certain-automaker-aims-to-increase-its-market-share-by-136969.html

The question step mentions "In assessing the plan's chances of achieving its aim, it would be most useful to know which of the following?"

I read the passage and of the three statements, incorrectly assumed (3) to be the conclusion.

(1): aims to increase market share by offering deep discounts
(2): with discounts, the dealer hopes to attract buyers away from rival manufacturers' cars
(3): customers attracted by discounts may become loyal customers in the future.

After pursuing that train of thought for 2 minutes, I ended up thinking it was (2). though I got the answer right and it took ~4 minutes to arrive at the answer.

Is it a good idea to use the question stem to find the relevant sentence it is referring to and identifying the conclusion?

Thanks


gmat-admin's picture

Question link: http://gmatclub.com/forum/a-certain-automaker-aims-to-increase-its-marke...
In most cases, I don't think the question stem helps identify an argument's conclusion.

When trying to identify the conclusion, it helps to ask, "What is the author trying to convince me of?"
So for this question, I'd say the conclusion is something like: The discounted prices will attract buyers away from rival manufacturers' cars

thank you!

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