CR- The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendlet

[guy29]

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but bear with me for one more : )

The Civil Service Act of 1883, also known as the Pendleton Act, which created a professional corps of administrators, was passed after a disappointed office-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield. For a hundred years, this system has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption. The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

Which of the following would be most useful to evaluate the argument’s conclusion?

A The methods that the Swiss and British governments have used to prevent corruption in government service for the past one hundred years
B The current level of job satisfaction among government office-seekers and office-holders
C The levels of competence and corruption in American government service between 1950 and the present
D The number of Presidents assassinated since the passage of the Pendleton Act
E The percentage of office-holders fired or convicted on charges stemming from corruption during the first hundred years of the Pendleton Act

Answer choice C is supposed to be correct:
This is said to be the answer, but I don't understand: even if you had that data, you would need a benchmark to compare it with, to see whether the Pendleton act was good or bad. Just having about 50 years of data, out of 100+ years of the act's life, and 232 years of the countries life is inefficient. It's explained somewhere in the choices that there is a gap of about 20 years the author doesn't mention, which is the issue, but the author doesn't really mention any figures or levels, except a single assassination. So why is it the answer?

Big thanks to anyone who tries to answer this.

[Guest]

This can be derived from POE. As the conclusion depends upon the previous results comparision competence and corruption.

'C' is the only option that attempts to do that. Rest all do not fit well.

[JonathanSchneider]

I agree that we can get to C by POE (Process of Elimination). But as to why C is actually correct ...

The author states that the US Gov has been anchored to competence rather than corruption for 100 years, starting at 1883. This would bring us up to 1983. Although it is not known specifically when the speaker is talking, the speaker then mentions that maintaining the act will work in the "new millennium." Hence, the speaker is interested in the years from 2000 onward. As such, we need to know: has anything changed since 1983? Did competence levels decrease? Did corruption levels rise? Why did the speaker say that the act has helped for only 100 years? We are asked which would be the most helpful. C would be the most helpful because it would allow us to be sure that nothing has gone seriously amiss since 1983.

[n.rajitr]

I agree that we can get to C by POE (Process of Elimination). But as to why C is actually correct ...

The author states that the US Gov has been anchored to competence rather than corruption for 100 years, starting at 1883. This would bring us up to 1983. Although it is not known specifically when the speaker is talking, the speaker then mentions that maintaining the act will work in the "new millennium." Hence, the speaker is interested in the years from 2000 onward. As such, we need to know: has anything changed since 1983? Did competence levels decrease? Did corruption levels rise? Why did the speaker say that the act has helped for only 100 years? We are asked which would be the most helpful. C would be the most helpful because it would allow us to be sure that nothing has gone seriously amiss since 1983.

Thanks a ton for the explanation Jonathan,

The 'new millenium' was the key word here...what a wacky CR question!

[ChrisB]

You're welcome!

[nuggins16]

Hi Jonathan,

Sorry for restarting the thread after 2 years.The act was passed only when the president was assassinated and we have no data in the question to confirm that he was assassinated in 1883.The act could have been formulated in 1883 but then passed at a later date.And y is option E not right.

Regards,
nuggins16

[dudettaman]

i feel the author is concerned about his insights for new millenium and option C directs better, in fact E is not relevant

[jnelson0612]

i feel the author is concerned about his insights for new millenium and option C directs better, in fact E is not relevant

Yes, I would agree.

[alrha]

the conclusion is: The best way to preserve this state in the new millennium is to maintain the Pendleton Act as it is.

I feel that A should be the correct choice. The explanation states that the methods of the other governments are irrelevant. However, the conclusion uses the term BEST way, and looking into what other governments do might uncover a BETTER way? How can this be the BEST way when it is the ONLY way discussed? "BEST" could only refer to the optimum choice of 3 or more options.

[tim]

OFFICIALLY CORRECT ANSWERS ARE CORRECT!
do not question officially correct answers!
far too many students on this forum make the mistake of questioning the correct answers; please note that doing so is a complete waste of your time and effort. i.e., exactly 0% of the time that you spend posting "isn't this official answer wrong?" is productive, and exactly 100% of that time is wasted.

"is this correct?" is never a productive question to ask about a correct answer. the answer is always yes.
"is this wrong?" / "is this X type of error?" is never a productive question to ask about correct answers. the answer is always no.

instead, the questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"why is this correct?"
"how does this work?"
"what understanding am i lacking that i need to understand this choice?"

this is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking.
you will suddenly find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you retire the idea that they might be wrong.

[alrha]

Tim, i realize that A is not the correct answer. The question is why it isn't, considering the reasoning i presented. i.e. where is the flaw in my logic of A? The strat guides seem to suggest that using terms such as BEST must be proven by comparing to alternative options.

[tim]

what i'm trying to get across is that the test is using a certain type of logic that they explained in their answer choices, and you just have to learn to accept that logic rather than questioning it. the answers you need are right there, you just have to read the explanation and tell yourself that even if you don't agree with it this is how you must answer GMAT questions..

[Jon Shukhrat]

Those who don't like this problem, please, check this link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-civil-se ... l#p2648855

This problem is flawed.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Thanks for your post. I read the GMAT Club thread with interest. Please be aware that the composition of GMAT arguments is a tricky (and controversial) area. GMAT doesn't publish the rules that they follow, so we closely monitor official problems and resources in order to compose problems of a similar style. I also know that studying CR is probably the most frustrating part of the GMAT, and I found myself disagreeing with lots of problems when I first studied for GMAT.

However, here are a couple of points that may help:
-GMAT arguments are intended to be weak. On CR problems, giving an argument that was solid would be pointless, as there would be no gaps or assumptions to exploit. Consequently, we need to read an illogical argument and understand the intended logic, rather than correct logic. In the argument above, the claim that "this system has anchored American government service to competence rather than corruption" is intended to support the conclusion, although I agree that it does a poor job.
-Get used to a bit of vagueness. CR arguments are couched in real-world terms, so that we have to deal with some imprecision.
-Look for the right gaps. The two gaps that jump out to me in this argument are: (1) just because something has worked in the past doesn't make it certain to work in the future (a.k.a. the problem of induction) and (2) how well has the system actually done at preventing corruption? and (3) the conclusion mentions 'best way' - what other options are there? This is a question of training yourself to see the right stuff, and exposure to some tens (or hundreds) of CR problems may help here.
-The answers don't need to be perfect for strengthen / weaken / evaluate problems. The question is not, 'which answer would allow us to give a final say on whether the conclusion is correct or not?', but simply 'what would be most useful?'. This relates to the vagueness mentioned above.

Also, I notice that the problem appears in our database with this phrase 'this system anchored' (rather than 'this system has anchored').