Critical Reasoning

As an experienced labor organizer and the former head of one of the nation's most powerful labor unions, Grayson is an excellent choice to chair the new council on business-labor relations.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?
(A) The new council must have the support of the nation's labor leaders if it is to succeed.
(B) During his years as a labor leader, Grayson established a record of good relations with business leaders.
(C) The chair of the new council must be a person who can communicate directly with the leaders of the nation's largest labor unions.
(D) Most of the other members of the new council will be representatives of business management interests.
(E) An understanding of the needs and problems of labor is the only qualification necessary for the job of chairing the new council.

harsh_gupta123 wrote:As an experienced labor organizer and the former head of one of the nation's most powerful labor unions, Grayson is an excellent choice to chair the new council on business-labor relations.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?

Premise : Grayson is experienced labor organizer.
He is the former head of one of the nation's most powerful labor unions.

Conclusion : Grayson is an excellent choice to chair the new council.

(A) The new council must have the support of the nation's labor leaders if it is to succeed.
Incorrect : This does not support the conclusion that Grayson is an excellent choice. Eliminated.

(B) During his years as a labor leader, Grayson established a record of good relations with business leaders.
Incorrect : Good relations with business leaders but how about relations with labor leaders? Eliminated.

(C) The chair of the new council must be a person who can communicate directly with the leaders of the nation's largest labor unions.
Incorrect : This does not positively affect the conclusion. Ruled out.

(D) Most of the other members of the new council will be representatives of business management interests.
Incorrect : How does that make Grayson an excellent choice?

(E) An understanding of the needs and problems of labor is the only qualification necessary for the job of chairing the new council.
Correct : If he is an experience labor organizer and former head of the nation's most powerful unions, and if understanding needs and problems of labor is the only qualification necessary for the job then indeed he is an excellent choice.

Hope this helps : )

Hi Komal, the way you break up a problem to explain it is appreciable......

well I have a question here, isn't the option E too strong because of the use of "..... is the only qualification necessary for....."
strong options are supposed to be omitted, right .............so I went for A

As an experienced labor organizer and the former head of one of the nation's most powerful labor unions, Grayson is an excellent choice to chair the new council on business-labor relations.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?
CONCLUSION IS: Grayson is an excellent choice to chair the new council on business-labor relations.

(A) The new council must have the support of the nation's labor leaders if it is to succeed. - Incorrect and extreme "MUST"
(B) During his years as a labor leader, Grayson established a record of good relations with business leaders. - not relevant much to strengthen
(C) The chair of the new council must be a person who can communicate directly with the leaders of the nation's largest labor unions. - nothing about conclusion
(D) Most of the other members of the new council will be representatives of business management interests. -relevant
(E) An understanding of the needs and problems of labor is the only qualification necessary for the job of chairing the new council.- correct - Strengthen the conclusion.

Thanks poohv005 for the reply. Yes A is an extreme case, but isn't E also an extreme case .....it uses ONLY

As an experienced labor organizer and the former head of one of the nation's most powerful labor unions, Grayson is an excellent choice to chair the new council on business-labor relations.
is the qualification to understand needs and problems of labor... E is the best choice.


(E) An understanding of the needs and problems of labor is the only qualification necessary for the job of chairing the new council.

remember we need to find the best choice of all

Thanks poohv005 for the help... I got it.

Mom4MBA wrote:Hi Komal, the way you break up a problem to explain it is appreciable......

well I have a question here, isn't the option E too strong because of the use of "..... is the only qualification necessary for....."
strong options are supposed to be omitted, right .............so I went for A

We should avoid extreme choices in these question types:

--necessary assumption questions: a GMAT argument is unlikely to be so bold as to depend on an extreme assumption.

--must be true (inference) questions: the more extreme a choice is, the less likely it is that the passage has proven that it must be true.

BUT, you should not shy away from an extreme choice that you've reasoned is correct in these question types:

--strengthen (and, to a lesser extent weaken): in some instances, the more extreme the fact, the more likely it will strengthen (that's what's happening in this question).

--sufficient assumption questions: the more extreme a choice is, the more likely it will validate the argument. Note that this question type is fairly uncommon on the GMAT.

Thank you Testluv