The country of Boralia is among the world's largest exporters of timber. Fearing that excessive logging is accelerating deforestation, the...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

Source: Mock

Critical Reasoning

Boldface

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The country of Boralia is among the world's largest exporters of timber. Fearing that excessive logging is accelerating deforestation, the Boralian government plans to severely restrict logging operations. Job retraining will be provided for former loggers. Nevertheless, many of them will undoubtedly remain unemployed as a result of the restrictions, since a large drop in export revenue would weaken the Boralian economy to the point where there would be no jobs for retrained workers.

In the argument given below, the part that is in boldface functions as which of the following?

Background information that provides a context for the argument

A consideration that supports the conclusion of the argument

A consideration that tends to weaken the conclusion of the argument

A preliminary conclusion that supports the main conclusion of the argument

The conclusion of the argument

Solution

Understanding the Passage

Text from Passage	Analysis
"The country of Boralia is among the world's largest exporters of timber."	What it says: Boralia sells massive amounts of wood to other countries - it's one of the biggest timber exporters globally. Visualization: Imagine global timber exports: Boralia: 15 million tons/year, Country B: 12 million tons/year, Country C: 8 million tons/year - Boralia is in the top tier. What it does: Sets up the economic context - timber is clearly important to Boralia's economy. Source: Author's factual statement
"Fearing that excessive logging is accelerating deforestation, the Boralian government plans to severely restrict logging operations."	What it says: The government is worried that too much tree cutting is making forests disappear faster, so they want to put strict limits on logging. Visualization: Current logging: 15 million tons/year → Proposed restrictions: 5 million tons/year (67% reduction) What it does: Introduces the government's policy response to environmental concerns. Source: Author reporting government's plan
"Job retraining will be provided for former loggers."	What it says: The government will offer programs to teach ex-loggers new skills for different jobs. Visualization: 50,000 loggers lose jobs → Government provides training programs → Loggers learn new skills (construction, manufacturing, etc.) What it does: Shows the government is trying to help displaced workers. Source: Author reporting government's plan
"Nevertheless, many of them will undoubtedly remain unemployed as a result of the restrictions" (Boldface 1)	What it says: Despite the retraining programs, a lot of former loggers will still end up without jobs because of the logging restrictions. Visualization: 50,000 displaced loggers → 20,000 successfully retrained and employed → 30,000 remain unemployed What it does: This is the author's main prediction/conclusion - the retraining won't be enough to solve the unemployment problem. Source: Author's conclusion
"since a large drop in export revenue would weaken the Boralian economy to the point where there would be no jobs for retrained workers."	What it says: Because timber export income will fall dramatically, this will hurt the overall economy so badly that there won't be any available jobs for people who completed retraining. Visualization: Current export revenue: $2 billion/year → Post-restrictions: $600 million/year → Weak economy → Job market shrinks from 2 million jobs to 1.8 million jobs → No openings for 50,000 retrained loggers What it does: Provides the reasoning/evidence for why the author believes many loggers will remain unemployed. Source: Author's reasoning

Overall Structure

The author is presenting an argument that predicts negative economic consequences from well-intentioned government policy. The flow moves from: background context → government policy → government solution attempt → author's pessimistic prediction → author's economic reasoning.

Main Conclusion: Many former loggers will remain unemployed despite retraining programs.

Boldface Segments

• Boldface 1: many of them will undoubtedly remain unemployed as a result of the restrictions

Boldface Understanding

Boldface 1 Analysis:

Function: This serves as the author's main conclusion or prediction about what will happen to displaced loggers
Direction: This supports the author's ultimate position - the author is arguing that the government's policy will have negative employment consequences despite their retraining efforts

Structural Classification

Boldface 1:

Structural Role: Main conclusion of the argument - this is the author's central claim about the outcome of the logging restrictions
Predicted Answer Patterns: Look for phrases like "main conclusion," "author's prediction," "the position the argument seeks to establish," or "the claim the passage supports"

Answer Choices Explained

Background information that provides a context for the argument

'Background information that provides a context for the argument' - ✗ WRONG - The boldface statement is not providing context or setting up the scenario. Background information would be factual details like 'Boralia is among the world's largest exporters of timber.' The boldface statement is making a prediction about future outcomes, not establishing context.

A consideration that supports the conclusion of the argument

'A consideration that supports the conclusion of the argument' - ✗ WRONG - This would mean the boldface statement is evidence or reasoning that supports some other conclusion. However, the boldface statement itself IS what the author is trying to prove, not evidence supporting something else. The economic reasoning that follows ('since a large drop...') is what supports the boldface statement.

A consideration that tends to weaken the conclusion of the argument

'A consideration that tends to weaken the conclusion of the argument' - ✗ WRONG - This would mean the boldface statement goes against the author's main point. But the author is actually arguing FOR this statement. The boldface statement represents the author's pessimistic prediction, not something that undermines their position.

A preliminary conclusion that supports the main conclusion of the argument

'A preliminary conclusion that supports the main conclusion of the argument' - ✗ WRONG - This would suggest there's an even more important conclusion that the boldface statement helps prove. However, there's no bigger conclusion beyond the boldface statement. This IS the main point the author wants to establish, not a stepping stone to something else.

The conclusion of the argument

'The conclusion of the argument' - ✓ CORRECT - The boldface statement represents the author's central claim about what will happen to the unemployed loggers. Everything in the argument builds toward establishing this prediction. The economic reasoning that follows ('since a large drop in export revenue...') provides support for this conclusion, confirming that the boldface statement is indeed what the author is ultimately arguing.

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