mehrak Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Industrial accidents are more common when some of the people in safety-sensitive jobs have drinking problems than when none do. Since, even after treatment, people who have had drinking problems are somewhat more likely than other people to have drinking problems in the future, any employer trying to reduce the risk of accidents should bar anyone who has ever been treated for a drinking problem from holding a safety-sensitive job. Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the argument above? A. Some companies place employees who are being treated for drinking problems in residential programs and allow them several weeks of paid sick leave. B. Many accidents in the workplace are the result of errors by employees who do not hold safety-sensitive jobs. C. Workers who would permanently lose their jobs if they sought treatment for a drinking problem try instead to conceal their problem and continue working for as long as possible. D. People who hold safety-sensitive jobs are subject to stresses that can exacerbate any personal problems they may have, including drinking problems. E. Some industrial accidents are caused by equipment failure rather than by employee error. OA:B why not c? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ankit0uc Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 C does not undermine the conclusion seriously, as it says "as long as possible" which means at some employer will discover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marrisa07 Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I was down to B & C, but thought C was a better answer. Conclusion is that any employer trying to reduce the risk of accidents should bar anyone who has ever been treated for a drinking problem from holding a safety-sensitive job. If such people (treated for a drinking prob from holding a safety-sensitive job) decide to conceal their prob, there is no way (at least for a while) for employer to find about it, thus seriously undermines the argument. I'd like to have other ppl's inputs on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12rk34 Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 The conclusion of the argument is the last senence which says that any employer trying to reduce the risk of accidents should bar anyone who has ever been treated for a drinking problem from holding a safety-sensitive job. Any statement that weakens this conclusion, should be the correct answer. Now choice (C) says that it will be diffcult to identify those who want to conceal their problem and continue working. But the argument is silent on this aspect. Also, even if some people try to conceal their problems, this should not act as an excuse for employers to continue with those having drinking problems because it would undermine the safety at jobs. Choice (B) directly and more forcefully attacks the argument by claiming that the premise on which argument is based, itself is flawed, since erros by emplyees result in many (not occasional) accidents. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I feel C is the best among the answers even though it doesnt successfully undermine the argument. IMO for sure C is not serving the pure intended purpose (undermine). It just states that it is difficult to catch the people who have drinking problems but better than B. B is talking about another set of people. Author is concerned about the people who work for safety-sensitive jobs and have the drinking problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesfeaves Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 To me it shld be C, B talks abt the another set of people, who are not related to Safety-sensitive jobs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rising_Sun Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 B actually changes the scope. The premise is that the accidents are more common when safety-sensitive jobs are held by worker with drinking habits than when held by worker without such habits. C should be the correct answer. It clearlyu undermines by showing that such people will not disclose their such habits and will prolong any treatment, finally worsening the situation and number of accidents. Although C uses some extreme language 'would permanently loose their job' which is not representative of the argument, yet C undermines the conclusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaprincess007 Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 i too say its c .b is not the ans for the same reasns a given by rising son.anyways found a nother link with c as the oa. http://www.www.urch.com/forums/gmat-critical-reasoning/74670-industrial-accidents.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star_321 Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I feel C is the best among the answers even though it doesnt successfully undermine the argument. IMO for sure C is not serving the pure intended purpose (undermine). It just states that it is difficult to catch the people who have drinking problems but better than B. B is talking about another set of people. Author is concerned about the people who work for safety-sensitive jobs and have the drinking problems. I feel the answer should be B... Agreed that B talks about another set of people but the argument is 'any employer trying to reduce the risk of accidents should bar anyone who has ever been treated for a drinking problem from holding a safety-sensitive job.' So if B is true the employer wont be able to reduce the risks of accident. C says that employees with drinking problem would permanently ose job. This is no where stated in the argument. The further point C raises is based on this assumption which itself is not stated in passage further weaken the credibility of the option.... B seems to be the perfect option.. Please correct if my reasoning is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mehrak Posted October 27, 2008 Author Share Posted October 27, 2008 i too say its c .b is not the ans for the same reasns a given by rising son.anyways found a nother link with c as the oa. http://www.www.urch.com/forums/gmat-critical-reasoning/74670-industrial-accidents.html i guess c should be the correct oa . i am agree that b is out of scope . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marrisa07 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Can someone tell me from where this question is? Is it from 1000CR or something else? Thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mehrak Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 it is from cat questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marrisa07 Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Thanks mehrak! Sorry for being not familiar, but which cat are you referring to here? anything specific? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ankit0uc Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I think she is talking about Common Admission Test (CAT) for Management institutes in India. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
den_geo Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I am not sure if i am right, but ans option C does not link employees with drinking probs to safety sensitive jobs. Please correct me if I am wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marrisa07 Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Oops... I thought she meant CAT as Computer Adaptive Test :p Thanks for your clarification, ankit0uc! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmdgirish Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 i guess c should be the correct oa . i am agree that b is out of scope . Can some one tell me whats wrong with D here . I would go with D since it shows that drinking is not the problem and employers cannot reduce the accidents by firing those with drinking history...accidents wont reduce as stress is the real culprit... Can some one tell me whats wrong with D here ? Will appreciate response. I thought this is a classic case of reverse cause and effect. -Thanks and Regards, Girish Malik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartacuss Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 obviously D undermine argument by stating that stress is problem , not alcohol ! In C, proposal is just weakened, but it didn't undermine argument, because it can be small part of drinking workers, and reaction of few among them, this will not kill the idea, even if it is true that some of them will react contraproductively ! If D is, it will kill the idea by stating that shell game is the couse of wrong perception among the management of the company !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jun Chen Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Yeah, I guess whether non safety sensitive jobs should be restricted is not even slightly the point in this argument. And in C, it strongly questions the viability of the company's new approach to avoid hiring people with drinking problems since they reckon it could probably only discourage many applicants from having any related treastment so as to hide the fact that they're alchoholic. Is there an official explanation for the answer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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