Electronic computer chips made of tiny silicon wafers now regularly contain millions of electronic switches. Unfortunately, electronic switches that a...
GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions
Electronic computer chips made of tiny silicon wafers now regularly contain millions of electronic switches. Unfortunately, electronic switches that are this small cannot withstand intense radiation. Micro-Mechanics plans to produce a chip that, because it uses only microscopic mechanical switches, will be invulnerable to radiation damage. The switches will, however, be slower than electronic switches and the chip will contain only 12,000 switches.
For there to be a market for Micro-Mechanics' chip as a result of the apparent advantage described above, each of the following would have to be true EXCEPT:
Passage Analysis:
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
| Electronic computer chips made of tiny silicon wafers now regularly contain millions of electronic switches. |
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| Unfortunately, electronic switches that are this small cannot withstand intense radiation. |
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| Micro-Mechanics plans to produce a chip that, because it uses only microscopic mechanical switches, will be invulnerable to radiation damage. |
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| The switches will, however, be slower than electronic switches and the chip will contain only 12,000 switches. |
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Argument Flow:
The passage starts by describing current chip technology and its capabilities, then identifies a critical weakness (radiation vulnerability). It introduces Micro-Mechanics' solution to this problem, but immediately points out the significant trade-offs involved. The flow moves from problem identification to proposed solution to solution limitations.
Main Conclusion:
There is no explicit conclusion in this passage. Instead, it presents a business scenario where Micro-Mechanics has a chip with radiation immunity but significant performance limitations compared to current technology.
Logical Structure:
This passage doesn't follow a traditional premise-conclusion structure. Instead, it's a fact-pattern setup that presents: Current technology + its weakness → Proposed alternative + its trade-offs. The passage sets up a scenario for evaluation rather than arguing for a specific conclusion.
Prethinking:
Question type:
Assumption EXCEPT - We need to find what does NOT have to be true for there to be a market for the chip. Since this is an EXCEPT question, we skip the normal prethinking process and instead focus on understanding what the question is asking.
Precision of Claims
The argument makes specific quantitative claims (millions vs 12,000 switches) and qualitative claims (radiation vulnerability vs invulnerability, speed differences). The key comparison is between current chips (fast, many switches, radiation-vulnerable) and the new chip (slower, fewer switches, radiation-proof).
Strategy
For EXCEPT questions, we don't do traditional prethinking. Instead, we need to understand that four answer choices will be necessary assumptions (things that MUST be true for a market to exist), while one will either be irrelevant or something that doesn't need to be true. The market depends on the radiation-proof advantage being valuable enough to overcome the disadvantages of fewer switches and slower speed.
There will be applications in which the speed attainable by an electronic switch is not essential. This must be true for a market to exist. Since Micro-Mechanics' mechanical switches are slower than electronic switches, there need to be applications where this speed disadvantage doesn't matter. If speed were always essential, no one would choose the slower chip, eliminating any market opportunity. This is a necessary assumption.
Switches used on electronic chips that contain only 12,000 switches are more vulnerable to radiation damage than the switches on Micro-Mechanics' chip will be. This must be true for the chip to have its claimed advantage. The whole selling point is radiation immunity, so if electronic chips with similar switch counts were equally radiation-resistant, there would be no reason to choose Micro-Mechanics' chip. This comparison needs to favor the mechanical switches for any market to exist. This is a necessary assumption.
There will be applications for computer chips in environments where the chips may have to survive intense radiation. This absolutely must be true for a market to exist. The entire value proposition is radiation resistance, so if there were no applications requiring radiation survival, the main advantage would be meaningless. Without radiation-prone environments needing chips, there's no market for this specific benefit. This is a necessary assumption.
Some devices in which computer chips will be used will have other components that will be able to function during or after exposure to radiation. This must be true for the chip to be useful. If a radiation-immune chip were placed in a device where all other components failed under radiation, the chip's survival would be pointless - the device still wouldn't work. For the chip to create value, other components must also function in radiation environments. This is a necessary assumption.
Manufacturers are able to protect electronic computer chips against exposure to intense radiation, where this protection is necessary. This does NOT need to be true for a market to exist. In fact, if current electronic chips could be adequately protected from radiation, it might reduce the market for Micro-Mechanics' chip. However, even if some protection exists, it might be insufficient, costly, or impractical, still leaving market opportunities. The key point is that this statement doesn't have to be true for Micro-Mechanics to find customers - whether current protection exists or not doesn't determine if their solution has value. This is the correct answer because it's not a necessary assumption.