In Air Flight's regular customer surveys, complaints about flight delays have increased over the last five years, as have complaints...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

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In Air Flight's regular customer surveys, complaints about flight delays have increased over the last five years, as have complaints about cramped seating. Flight delays have become more common, but Air Flight's seats are no smaller, so airline officials interpreted the increase in complaints about seating as a natural outcome of the annoyance at delays. The airline is planning to improve its on-time performance; if it succeeds, the officials predict that complaints about seating will fall again.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously challenges the officials' prediction?

Passengers are significantly more likely to report feeling cramped in their seats if their flight is more than twenty minutes late in boarding.

People find it more difficult to sit still in crowded quarters if they are feeling impatient.

Air Flight's passengers have, on average, more legroom on flights now than five years ago.

Air Flight sells a significantly higher proportion of its seats now than it did five years ago.

In Air Flight's surveys, the number of complaints about the airline's food has increased over the last five years.

Solution

Passage Analysis:

Text from Passage	Analysis
In Air Flight's regular customer surveys, complaints about flight delays have increased over the last five years, as have complaints about cramped seating.	What it says: Both delay complaints and seating complaints have gone up over 5 years What it does: Sets up the two main problems we need to understand What it is: Survey data/factual background Visualization: Year 1: 20 delay complaints, 15 seating complaints → Year 5: 40 delay complaints, 30 seating complaints
Flight delays have become more common, but Air Flight's seats are no smaller, so airline officials interpreted the increase in complaints about seating as a natural outcome of the annoyance at delays.	What it says: Delays increased but seats stayed same size, so officials think people complain about seats because they're mad about delays What it does: Gives the officials' explanation connecting the two complaint trends What it is: Officials' interpretation/theory Visualization: Delays ↗️ + Same seat size = Frustrated passengers blame seats (not actual seat problems)
The airline is planning to improve its on-time performance; if it succeeds, the officials predict that complaints about seating will fall again.	What it says: Officials think fixing delays will reduce seating complaints too What it does: States the prediction we need to challenge What it is: Officials' prediction based on their theory Visualization: Future plan: Fix delays ↗️ → Happy passengers → Fewer seating complaints ↘️

Argument Flow:

We start with the puzzle of two types of complaints both increasing. Then officials offer their theory that one causes the other (delays make people complain about seats). Finally, they make a prediction based on this theory.

Main Conclusion:

If Air Flight improves on-time performance, complaints about seating will decrease.

Logical Structure:

The officials assume that seating complaints are just displaced anger from flight delays. Their logic is: fix the real problem (delays) and the fake problem (seating complaints) will go away too. We need to find something that breaks this connection.

Prethinking:

Question type:

Weaken - We need to find information that reduces belief in the officials' prediction that fixing delays will reduce seating complaints

Precision of Claims

The officials' prediction is very specific: if they succeed in improving on-time performance, complaints about seating will fall. This creates a cause-and-effect relationship between delay improvements and seating complaint reductions

Strategy

To weaken this prediction, we need to find scenarios that suggest seating complaints won't decrease even if delays are fixed. The officials assume seating complaints are just displaced anger from delays, but what if there are other reasons people complain about seats? We should look for alternative explanations for why seating complaints increased, or reasons why fixing delays won't help with seating issues

Answer Choices Explained

Passengers are significantly more likely to report feeling cramped in their seats if their flight is more than twenty minutes late in boarding.

This actually supports the officials' theory rather than challenging it
It confirms that delays do cause people to complain more about seating
If this is true, then fixing delays should indeed reduce seating complaints
This strengthens rather than weakens the prediction

People find it more difficult to sit still in crowded quarters if they are feeling impatient.

This also supports the connection between delays and seating complaints
Delays make people impatient, which makes cramped seating feel worse
This explains why the two complaints are linked, supporting the officials' theory
Like choice A, this strengthens rather than challenges the prediction

Air Flight's passengers have, on average, more legroom on flights now than five years ago.

This suggests seating has actually improved over the five-year period
If seats have more legroom now, it's puzzling why seating complaints increased
However, this doesn't directly challenge whether fixing delays will reduce complaints
It raises questions about the data but doesn't directly weaken the prediction about future results

Air Flight sells a significantly higher proportion of its seats now than it did five years ago.

This provides an alternative explanation for increased seating complaints
Higher seat occupancy means flights are more crowded with more passengers
More crowded flights create legitimate comfort issues regardless of delays
Even if delays are completely fixed, the crowding problem would persist
This directly challenges the prediction because seating complaints would continue due to actual overcrowding
This is the correct answer - it shows why fixing delays might not solve the seating complaint problem

In Air Flight's surveys, the number of complaints about the airline's food has increased over the last five years.

This information is completely irrelevant to the relationship between delays and seating complaints
Food complaints have no bearing on whether fixing delays will reduce seating complaints
This doesn't challenge the officials' prediction in any meaningful way
It's just additional complaint data that doesn't affect the argument

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