Animal-rights supporters in the United States have, in the last two years, increased their activities protesting the use of animals...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

Source: Mock

Critical Reasoning

Weaken

EASY

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Animal-rights supporters in the United States have, in the last two years, increased their activities protesting the use of animals for fur coats. During this period fur coat sales began to decrease steadily. Therefore, the activities of the animal-rights supporters must have been the cause of the decline in fur sales.

Which of the following, if true, would be most damaging to the argument above?

Fur coats are very warm, and in the past two years, several northern regions in the United States have experienced record cold winters, causing an increase in the need for warm outer wear.

In the past several years, fur industry analysts have noted that middle-income consumers are buying more fur coats than previously.

In the past few years, protests by animal rights supporters have caused many celebrities to speak out against the fur industry.

In the past two years, production problems have restricted the supply of furs, making each fur coat more expensive.

At the recent fur fashion shows, many of the furs were sheared and dyed bright colors so that they resembled velvet rather than fur.

Solution

Passage Analysis:

Text from Passage	Analysis
Animal-rights supporters in the United States have, in the last two years, increased their activities protesting the use of animals for fur coats.	What it says: Animal-rights groups have ramped up their protests against fur coats over the past two years What it does: Sets up the first key piece of information about increased activism What it is: Author's factual claim Visualization: 2 years ago: Low protest activity → Now: High protest activity
During this period fur coat sales began to decrease steadily.	What it says: Fur coat sales started dropping during the same two-year period What it does: Introduces the second key piece - connects timing of protests with sales decline What it is: Author's factual claim Visualization: Timeline: Increased protests (2 years) + Steadily decreasing fur sales (same period)
Therefore, the activities of the animal-rights supporters must have been the cause of the decline in fur sales.	What it says: The author concludes that the protest activities definitely caused the sales drop What it does: Makes a causal conclusion based on the timing correlation from the previous statements What it is: Author's conclusion

Argument Flow:

The argument presents two facts that happened during the same time period, then jumps to a causal conclusion. We get the timing of increased protests, then the timing of decreased sales, and finally a strong claim that one caused the other.

Main Conclusion:

Animal-rights supporters' increased protest activities caused the decline in fur coat sales.

Logical Structure:

This is a classic correlation-to-causation argument. Just because two things happened at the same time (protests increased AND sales decreased), the author assumes one must have caused the other. The argument treats timing overlap as proof of causation, which is a logical weakness.

Prethinking:

Question type:

Weaken - We need to find information that would reduce our belief in the conclusion that animal-rights protests caused the decline in fur sales

Precision of Claims

The argument makes a specific causal claim about protests being THE cause of declining fur sales over a precise 2-year timeframe

Strategy

To weaken this causal argument, we need to find alternative explanations for why fur sales declined during this period. The author assumes that because protests increased and sales decreased at the same time, the protests must have caused the sales drop. We can weaken this by showing other factors that could explain the decline, or by showing the protests weren't actually effective in causing the decline.

Answer Choices Explained

Fur coats are very warm, and in the past two years, several northern regions in the United States have experienced record cold winters, causing an increase in the need for warm outer wear.

'Fur coats are very warm, and in the past two years, several northern regions in the United States have experienced record cold winters, causing an increase in the need for warm outer wear.' This actually strengthens the argument rather than weakening it. If there was increased need for warm clothing due to record cold winters, we would expect fur coat sales to increase, not decrease. Since sales still declined despite this increased demand, it makes the protest explanation even more plausible.

In the past several years, fur industry analysts have noted that middle-income consumers are buying more fur coats than previously.

'In the past several years, fur industry analysts have noted that middle-income consumers are buying more fur coats than previously.' This doesn't address the specific two-year period when sales declined. The timeframe is too vague ('past several years' vs. the argument's specific 'past two years'), and increased buying by one demographic doesn't explain the overall decline in sales during the protest period.

In the past few years, protests by animal rights supporters have caused many celebrities to speak out against the fur industry.

'In the past few years, protests by animal rights supporters have caused many celebrities to speak out against the fur industry.' This actually supports the argument by showing that protests have been effective in influencing public opinion through celebrity endorsements. This strengthens rather than weakens the connection between protest activities and declining fur sales.

In the past two years, production problems have restricted the supply of furs, making each fur coat more expensive.

'In the past two years, production problems have restricted the supply of furs, making each fur coat more expensive.' This directly weakens the argument by providing an alternative explanation for the sales decline. If production problems made fur coats more expensive during the same two-year period, then higher prices could explain why sales dropped, not the animal-rights protests. This creates reasonable doubt about the causal relationship the argument claims.

At the recent fur fashion shows, many of the furs were sheared and dyed bright colors so that they resembled velvet rather than fur.

'At the recent fur fashion shows, many of the furs were sheared and dyed bright colors so that they resembled velvet rather than fur.' This doesn't provide an alternative explanation for declining sales. If anything, making furs look less like traditional fur might actually appeal to consumers who have ethical concerns, potentially increasing rather than decreasing sales.

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