Q26:
In countries where automobile insurance includes compensation for whiplash
injuries sustained in automobile accidents, reports of having suffered such injuries
are twice as frequent as they are in countries where whiplash is not covered. Some
commentators have argued, correctly, that since there is presently no objective test for
whiplash, spurious reports of whiplash injuries cannot be readily identified. These
commentators are, however, wrong to draw the further conclusion that in the countries
with the higher rates of reported whiplash injuries, half of the reported cases are spurious:
clearly, in countries where automobile insurance does not include compensation for
whiplash, people often have little incentive to report whiplash injuries that they actually
have suffered.

In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

A. The first is a finding whose accuracy is evaluated in the argument; the second is
an intermediate conclusion drawn to support the judgment reached by the
argument on the accuracy of that finding.
B. The first is a finding whose accuracy is evaluated in the argument; the second is
evidence that has been used to challenge the accuracy of that finding.
C. The first is a finding whose implications are at issue in the argument; the second
is an intermediate conclusion that has been used to support a conclusion that the
argument criticizes.
D. The first is a claim that the argument disputes; the second is a narrower claim that
the argument accepts.
E. The first is a claim that has been used to support a conclusion that the argument
accepts; the second is that conclusion

Please can you also tell me the steps while evaluating a complex BF ? Sometimes the content and the contrasts are too much too grasp.
Thanks

Prince, these Analyze the Argument Structure questions on the GMAT are few and far between. Unless you are scoring well into the 90th+ percentile on verbal it is very unlikely that you will see one. Moreover, as these questions are quite time consuming, they are excellent questions to answer rapidly through strategic guessing and logical elimination.

That said, the general process is to identify the conclusion, and then determine, one at a time, how each bold statement relates to the conclusion.

In the argument at hand, the author's conclusion is that commentators are, however, wrong to draw the further conclusion that in the countries with the higher rates of reported whiplash injuries, half of the reported cases are spurious.

Now, evaluate each bold statement. The first statement is simply a fact upon with the argument's discussion is based.
-Eliminate choices A, B, D.

The second bold statement is another fact, but this fact is one used to draw false conclusions.
-Eliminate E

The Correct Answer is C

-dan

I do get the approach.
But I am still debating between A and C.

A: A. The first is a finding whose accuracy is evaluated in the argument; the second is an intermediate conclusion drawn to support the judgment reached by the
argument on the accuracy of that finding.

C. The first is a finding whose implications are at issue in the argument; the second
is an intermediate conclusion that has been used to support a conclusion that the
argument criticizes.

I get it that A is weak because 2nd BF is more a conclusion than a judgement.
Also the first BF is a fact so its accuracy is not an issue, only its implications need to be evaluated.

Prince,

I think you "get it" better than you are admitting to yourself. The first BF is presented as fact, so choice A, which states that accuracy of this fact is evaluated, is incorrect. Furthermore, the second BF is an "intermediate conclusion," but it definitely is not "drawn to support the judgment reached by the argument on the accuracy of that finding."

On the verbal section you must be able to justify EVERY WORD in an answer choice. If the choice is only 1/2 wrong, or even 1/10 wrong, it is entirely wrong!

-dan

Thanks Dan.
As always your the KING here.
Thanks.
I feel BF is within reach. Takes 2-3 min, but it is worth it.

the actual answer is A according to GMAT prep,not C.

Hmm. So, the title of this thread says that Kaplan is the author of this question. The last poster says that GMATPrep offers a different answer... which would be a bit surprising for a Kaplan question...

I would also be highly surprised to discover that A is the right answer here. Answer A says that the first boldface's accuracy is evaluated by the rest of the argument. The first boldface states that, in countries with whiplash compensation, whiplash injury reports are twice as frequent (as compared to countries without whiplash compensation). The rest of the argument does not in any way call into question this statistic or attempt to verify the accuracy of the actual statistic - nobody is arguing that the reports really aren't twice as frequent. Rather, the argument is about what conclusions can be drawn from that statistic.

For similar reasons, the second half of answer choice A also doesn't work. At this point, I'd actually be willing to bet money that A is not the right answer. :)

_________________
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director of Online Community
ManhattanGMAT

Stacey - I'll take that bet :)

This is a GMAT question. I just came across it in Practice Test #2. The answer is A. Naughty Kaplan.

http://twitpic.com/drwjq

hmm.

The option wording is different in the option A that is there on the GMAT Prep software. It says that first one is an evidence that is used to support a conclusion that argument criticizes, and second is that conclusion.

Thanks, Rohit.

_________________
Ben Ku
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT

I believe this one is different from the one posted by Prince if you take a close look~

even the BFs are different