Travel agents are market intermediaries who make their living by gathering, organizing, and dispensing information about travel-related services that is not readily available to most consumers through new information technologies, such as the internet much of this information can now be made directly available to consumers. Demand for the services of travel agents will be drastically reduced.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A.Travel agents routinely use the internet and other new information technologies as sources for the information they obtain for their customers.
B.The amount of information available through the internet and other new information technologies is increasing faster than the capabilities of most consumers to process it
C.Many people use travel-related services, such as airlines and hotels without consulting a travel agent.
D.The people who currently use the services of travel agents are also those most likely to gain access to new information technologies
E.The internet and other new information technologies are currently used by a relatively small proportion of the population
本题argument的核心是在于讨论the role of travel agents（TA）。第一层次是说TA的作用（抑或存在价值）主要是提供对大部分消费者来说无法获得的信息，然后第二层次的一个驳论说由于新科技提供了接触这些之前无法触及信息的机会，所以TA的作用被大大削弱了。
这样来看：A选项没有给出这方面的有用信息——我是要证明TA有没有用，而不是它怎么工作；E选项其实可以部分削弱题目的观点，即新科技对TA的传统职能冲击还不是非常大，但是E有缺陷——what if the small proportion using the internet is just the major group of customers for the services of TA?再看B，说信息增长的速度超过了大多数消费者的处理能力，则TA的传统职能——处理信息，就又有了用武之地。 作者: suntao0209 时间: 2012-1-5 10:15
顶一个 为什么不选D作者: michaelmay17 时间: 2012-1-5 12:53
D是加强。。。我估计你理解错了D的意思，D不是说这些正在用ta的人也正在用internet而是用ta的人很可能接触到internet从而导致他们不再用ta作者: 泾渭不凡 时间: 2012-1-6 22:51
我刚开始选择B，分析后应该是D。 但是记得逻辑线路好像有直接驳斥和间接驳斥（就是要在走一个逻辑推理的步骤）。 D的意思是说现在的用户人群正是那些可以直接获得相应信息的响应群体。一个逻辑环节驳斥了原文说需求递减的说法。 B则是说为什么可接受该类信息的人群仍旧购买该项服务：因为超出了他们所能进行信息处理的能力。（这里的“因为”赘余，冒号本身就起到解释说明作用，但为了阐述连贯这里凑合看）这里看出B恰恰是解释了D，就是说B需要更进一步的逻辑推理。 听过老师讲，逻辑选项要找逻辑线路最直接的。 这样分析过后我觉得是D了。 谢谢LZ帮忙提醒了一个逻辑知识点。作者: 泾渭不凡 时间: 2012-1-6 22:57
同学做到GWD这个题号了，估计做完了，能问一下正确率怎么样么？我这边情况堪忧啊，方便的话短我，不常来逻辑区可能看不到LZ回复，谢谢交流。作者: wildmantomba 时间: 2012-1-20 16:07
http://forum.chasedream.com/GMAT_CR/thread-246088-4-1.html vote for B
题干中的因果：因为网路使用，中介生意没了
削弱题目方式：割断因果，有因无果；即使可以用网路，但无法处理里面庞大的信息，所以还是要找中介作者: mahaofei001 时间: 2012-1-20 19:07
这题外网上有人选B，他还是个instructor级别的人。我贴过来他的帖子。 http://www.beatthegmat.com/travel-t86511.html I think you're missing a step in the CR method. In most of your posts, you are debating between the right answer and another answer that is either completely irrelevant, or actually does the opposite of what you need. The way to avoid that is to clarify to yourself what the right answer should do before looking at the answer choices. From now on, you are forbidden to even look in the direction of the answer choices before you have a vague idea of what you're looking for.
Seriously now: the key for most CR questions is to try and predict what the right answer should do BEFORE you look at the answer choices. If you have an idea, and find an answer choice that does that or says that in different words, then that's the right answer. Go through the other answer choices to make sure, but be aggressive in your POE - don't let any answer choice that uses the same words as the passage distract you from your notion of what the right answer DOES.
Here, the argument again seems solid: Travel agents provide information, but people can now get that information themselves through the internet. Remind me why do we need travel agents anymore?
And yet, we are required to weaken the argument - to show that travel agents are still needed. Think "what could make this argument wrong?" "If I can get the info myself, why do I need a travel agent?" What can a travel agent do that I can't?
Well, it's his job, for one. The agent has the time to really search through the information and find me the best deals - something I don't have the time to do, because I have MY job to deal with. Also, the agent has the expertise and experience - he knows what he's looking for. He can do the searching job in half the time it would take me to do it, because he already recognizes patterns that I don't.
So in short, I'm looking for an answer choice that says that the travel agent is still useful - he has the time to search, and the expertise to do it faster that I can. With this reasoning in mind, B becomes the obvious choice: it explains why we need travel agents even though we have access to the info ourselves - there's just too much info for us mortals to cope.
D does the opposite - it tells us that the travel agent is indeed obsolete, as the people who use them are exactly those tech-savvy enough not to need using them from now on.作者: starry0328 时间: 2023-8-14 12:31