[两道题的对比] og12-123和prep-36

michiyo622

我是在做prep的时候发现的问题，看了大家的讨论，依然觉得有待于指点。。。两道题题目一样，但是问题一个是weaken一个是support
og1-123
Outsourcing is the practice of obtaining from an independent supplier a product or service that a
company has previously provided for itself. Since a company’s chief objective is to realize the highest
possible year-end profits, any product or service that can be obtained from an independent supplier for less
than it would cost the company to provide the product or service on its own should be outsourced.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

(A) If a company decides to use independent suppliers for a product, it can generally
exploit the vigorous competition arising among several firms that are interested in supplying
that product.

(B) Successful outsourcing requires a company to provide its suppliers with information about its
products and plans that can fall into the hands of its competitors and give them a business
advantage.

(C) Certain tasks, such as processing a company’s payroll, are commonly outsourced, whereas
others, such as handling the company’s core business, are not.

(D) For a company to provide a product or service for itself as efficiently as an independent supplier
can provide it, the managers involved need to be as expert in the area of that product or service
as the people in charge of that product or service at an independent supplier are.

(E) When a company decides to use an independent supplier for a product or service, the independent
supplier sometimes hires members of the company’s staff who formerly made the product
or provided the service that the independent supplier now supplies.



prep cr 36
Outsourcing is the practice of obtaining from an independent supplier a product or service that a company has previously provided for itself.  Vernon, Inc., a small manufacturing company that has in recent years experienced a decline in its profits, plans to boost its profits by outsourcing those parts of its business that independent suppliers can provide at lower cost than Vernon can itself.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the prediction that Vernon's plan will achieve its goal?

(A) Among the parts of its business that Vernon does not plan to outsource are some that require standards of accuracy too high for most independent suppliers to provide at lower cost than Vernon can.
(B) Vernon itself acts as an independent supplier of specialized hardware items to certain manufacturers that formerly made those items themselves.
(C) Relatively few manufacturers that start as independent suppliers have been able to expand their business and become direct competitors of the companies they once supplied.
(D) Vernon plans to select the independent suppliers it will use on the basis of submitted bids.
(E) Attending to certain tasks that Vernon performs relatively inefficiently has taken up much of the time and effort of top managers whose time would have been better spent attending to Vernon's core business.


两道题的答案都已标出

我注意到第一题的b和第二题的c刚好是相反的，因为当时先做的第一题觉得没问题，可能有点先入为主，所以第二题的就选了c项。

我认为e项的问题在于，managers spend more time and effort 来处理工资的重要事务，并不代表公司的profit就多啊！而c项的竞争关系却会导致profit的减少

请赐教！！灰常感谢！！！！！

清飞扬

LZ给你个建议，看下powerscore的CR bible把，能让你思路清楚点的。这本是美国人力荐攻克cr的bible

清飞扬

看完这本书，不仅这道题你会明白，类似的题目都可明白

PS:这两题绝对是700-的level

michiyo622

LZ给你个建议，看下powerscore的CR bible把，能让你思路清楚点的。这本是美国人力荐攻克cr的bible

-- by 会员 清飞扬 (2011/8/16 22:19:16)

我土了。。。那是个虾米？
烦请大侠介绍个网址来啊~谢谢！！！

michiyo622

看完这本书，不仅这道题你会明白，类似的题目都可明白

PS:这两题绝对是700-的level

-- by 会员 清飞扬 (2011/8/16 22:20:03)

不过我还有一周就要考了。。。可能来不及准备那么多。。。

清飞扬

CR重要的是思路，否则即便是人家解释你听，你也会觉得是天方夜谭的。置顶区的下载集合里有这本书，你一周就考了把关键的几个看看吧，比如assumption/strengthen, weaken, 等，其他的就别看了

虽然manhattan也有CR的书，可是我觉得没有powerscore解释的清楚，两本书说的都是一个指导方针，只是不同的说法，powerscore说得更清楚

清飞扬

对了GMATCLUB里有对CR方法的归纳，贴给你看看

Best Critical reasoning shortcuts, tips, and notes

Assumptions -1

• An assumption is merely an unstated (implied) premise.
  
• In logically correct arguments which contain an assumption, the premise + assumption = conclusion.
  
• If the question stem asks you “what is assumed…” then you should identify unstated premise of passage. Look for a gap in logic.
  

Assumptions - 2

• Ask yourself, “What must be true to make the conclusion valid?” (Using the premise + assumption = equation formula).
  
• Remember, since the assumption is an UNSTATED premise, any answer choice that comes from the passage to support your assumption is necessarily incorrect. The answer will be implied, not explicitly stated.
  

Assumption -3

• An assumption bridges the gap between argument’s stated premises and conclusion.
  
• Use denial test.
  
• Compare premise words against conclusion.
  
• For assumption questions, find the conclusion and determine which answer choice needs to be true for a conclusion to be valid.
  

Strengthen the Argument

• Correct answers to this question type will:
  
• Connect evidence with conclusion better.
  
• Make conclusion stronger.
  
• Strengthen the evidence with new information (perhaps an assumption is needed to make the argument work
  

Strengthen/Weaken

• Break down piece of evidence.
  
• Attack validity of an assumption.
  
• Don’t try to prove or disprove conclusion.
  
• Tip the scales.
  

Strengthen/Weaken

• Double-check that your answer satisfies the ques¬tion stem, not the opposite of the question stem.
  
• When you compare two items, you must be sure that the two items are indeed comparable.
  

Inference
Inference questions are usually very basic, about one or more premises. PICK THE OBVIOUS ANSWER (even if it seems too obvious).

• Consider the evidence, draw a conclusion.
  
• An inference is an extension of an argument, not a necessary part of it.
  
• A valid inference is a conclusion, but not necessarily the conclusion, of a set of statements.
  For inference questions, determine which answer choice must absolutely, positively be true based on what you’ve read.
  
• Pick the obvious answer choice.
  
• Avoid extreme answers (too strong or too weak)
  

Inference vs. Assumption
An inference is a conclusion that can be drawn based on one or more of the statements in the stimulus. An inference must be true based on something that you read.
An assumption is a missing but necessary piece of evidence. An assumption is something that must be true in order for the argument to be complete

Numbers, Percentages
Watch for the distinction between NUMBERS and PERCENTAGES.


Resolve the Paradox

• To solve this type of question, look for a logically contradictory discrepancy.
  
• Often the correct answer will take a similar format (in terms of answer length or argument structure).
  

Mimic the Reasoning
Follow same line of reasoning from the passage in the answer.
Eliminate the question stem detail to create a shorthand version of the argument structure.

• Question Stem: If it rains, then I will stay at home today.”
  
• Shorthand: If A, then B.”
  
• Answer: “If A, then B.”
  

Statistical Assumptions
Are the statistics representative?
Is the question stem doing a lure and switch in terms of numbers?
Is the question stem using numbers to assume something is so, when the numbers aren’t actually helping explain the phenomenon given?


7 Principles of CR
1. Understand structure of argument. Identify premise (P), conclusion (C) and any unstated assumptions. Look for structural signpost words which mark P and C.
2. Preview question before reading passage.
3. Paraphrase passage’s point or main idea using one verb “i.e., explain, criticize, compare, contrast”.3
4. Judge argument’s persuasiveness while reading actively.
5. Answer question being asked.
6. Prephrase answer.
7. Keep SCOPE in mind. Moderate rather than strong words / qualifiers usually correct.

Paraphrasing and Prephrasing
Paraphrasing

• Actively translate passages into your own words.
  
• Pretend you are explaining the information in a passage to a 10-year-old kid.
  

Pre phrasing

• Think about what form the correct answer will take.
  
• As you do more questions, you will begin to “guess” correctly, as you start to think as the test makers do.
  

Strategy
Identify the conclusion and find the answer that addresses the conclusion. Most questions follow this guideline.

4-Step Method
1. Preview question stem.
2. Read stimulus and paraphrase if tricky.
3. Prephrase answer.
4. Choose an answer which answers question stem

Indicate Flaw
Use the information that is present in the passage to answer “Indicate the Flaw” CR questions.
Not about new information like “Weaken” CR questions.

Irrelevant
Watch for irrelevant or overly strong answer choices in CR.
Stay within SCOPE and TONE of passage


Negate (Counterattack)
For assumption questions, negate CR answer choice to see if the conclusion can survive

Statistics
When an argument is based on statistics, it is usually assumed that the people polled are representative of the whole
Questions Involving Surveys, Consider: Does the survey accurately represent the views of the whole group surveyed? Is there a statistics bait and switch?

Scope Shifts
Be wary of scope shifts. Look for tentmakers’ tricks:

• Sometimes a passage will begin with one group and draw a conclusion about another group. Similarly, a passage might have weak premises and then draw an overbroad conclusion.
  
• Other times the tone of the passage moves so far that the testtaker is left wondering, “How did that conclusion come about?”
  

michiyo622

CR重要的是思路，否则即便是人家解释你听，你也会觉得是天方夜谭的。置顶区的下载集合里有这本书，你一周就考了把关键的几个看看吧，比如assumption/strengthen, weaken, 等，其他的就别看了

虽然manhattan也有CR的书，可是我觉得没有powerscore解释的清楚，两本书说的都是一个指导方针，只是不同的说法，powerscore说得更清楚

-- by 会员 清飞扬 (2011/8/16 22:31:09)

多谢！！

michiyo622

还有。。。弱弱的求这道题的思路。。。

清飞扬

结论是：
any product or service that can be obtained from an independent supplier for less than it would cost the company to provide the product or service on its own should be outsourced

所以问题就是要看，是否应该要outsoucing,

如果你能说出outsourcing的坏处，那么就是weaken，如果你能说出outsourcing的好处就是strengthen

故：

(A) If a company decides to use independent suppliers for a product, it can generally
exploit the vigorous competition arising among several firms that are interested in supplying
that product.---说outsourcing的具体操作方法，和结论无关

(B) Successful outsourcing requires a company to provide its suppliers with information about its
products and plans that can fall into the hands of its competitors and give them a business
advantage.-----说outsourcing可能会造成的隐患对公司不好，所以算是weaken（defender）

(C) Certain tasks, such as processing a company’s payroll, are commonly outsourced, whereas
others, such as handling the company’s core business, are not. -----只是说哪些会outsourcing哪些不会，对于outsourcing对公司好和不好没有直接影响，所以无关

(D) For a company to provide a product or service for itself as efficiently as an independent supplier
can provide it, the managers involved need to be as expert in the area of that product or service
as the people in charge of that product or service at an independent supplier are.----算是一种support了，因为manager是这个领域的expert，有利于做出对公司有利的outsourcing

(E) When a company decides to use an independent supplier for a product or service, the independent
supplier sometimes hires members of the company’s staff who formerly made the product
or provided the service that the independent supplier now supplies.----supplier hire原公司的员工，对supplier有利，对公司本身没有利益的作用，所以无关

所以答案是B