GMAT · Argument structure, explanations and plans · TOPIC LESSON
Evaluate whether a proposed action can achieve its stated goal after costs, constraints and responses are counted.
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01 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
A plan argument has a desired outcome, a proposed action and a mechanism expected to connect them. State all three. “Install more charging points” is an action; “reduce vehicles waiting for a charger” is a goal. More installed equipment is not automatically proof of shorter waits.
The relevant criterion comes from the stated goal. A traffic plan may be judged by car trips, travel time, emissions or accessibility; these can move differently. Do not replace the given objective with your preferred one.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
A library proposes automatic reminders before due dates to reduce overdue returns. State goal, action and mechanism.
Answer The plan relies on reaching patrons and changing the behavior that causes overdue returns, not merely sending messages.
02 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
A plan can be desirable yet infeasible. Check whether the required staff, equipment, authority, time and information exist when needed. A demand survey does not establish supply capacity. A one-time pilot may rely on resources unavailable at scale.
Focus on constraints relevant to the mechanism. A minor inconvenience is not necessarily fatal, while a small missing resource can be decisive if the plan requires it. For a deadline, distinguish average completion time from the capacity to complete by the actual cutoff.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
A clinic plans to add evening appointments without reducing daytime appointments. Every currently scheduled qualified staffing hour is required to maintain the existing daytime service. Current staff are already scheduled for their maximum permitted hours. Each additional evening appointment requires additional qualified staffing hours; no efficiency change or unused capacity can substitute for them. No additional qualified staff can be hired or reassigned during the proposed period. What does this show?
Answer The plan is infeasible as specified for that period; demand does not solve the staffing constraint.
03 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
An intervention changes incentives. Drivers may reroute, customers may delay purchases, or employees may optimize a measured target at the expense of the real goal. Ask how affected people are likely to respond and whether that response offsets the intended benefit.
An unintended consequence is not automatically decisive. Its direction and magnitude matter. A policy can still produce a net benefit despite a side effect, so evaluate the stated objective after counting both effects.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
A city closes one street to cars to reduce traffic across the district. Counts show nearly all affected drivers now use adjacent district streets. Evaluate.
Answer The evidence undermines district-wide traffic reduction by showing displacement rather than eliminated trips.
04 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
For a monetary objective, compare relevant incremental benefits and costs over the same time period. Separate recurring operating costs from one-time installation costs. For nonmonetary objectives, identify the relevant outcomes rather than forcing everything into money.
A cost already paid and unrecoverable is not an incremental cost of choosing among future plans, though future maintenance or recoverable resale value can matter. Do not omit opportunity costs when the argument depends on scarce resources that could serve another important use.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
A business considers a scheduling system. Installation costs $12,000 once. Annual fees are $4,000. Expected annual labor savings are $10,000. Using only these figures, calculate first-year net savings and recurring annual net savings afterward.
Answer First year: a $6,000 net cost. Later full years: $6,000 net savings.
05 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Write the mechanism in both directions. A faster checkout may attract more customers, raising the queue; a cheaper price may increase units but reduce revenue per unit. The outcome depends on the net effect rather than on the existence of one favorable link.
Avoid assuming that offsets are always complete. A plausible offset weakens an unqualified prediction; a measured offset can support a firmer conclusion about the size or sign of the net result.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
A packaging redesign saves $0.30 per shipment but increases breakage costs by an average of $0.45 per shipment. Other costs and shipment volume are unchanged. Will it lower total shipment-related costs?
Answer No; costs increase by $0.15 per shipment under the supplied conditions.
06 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
An alternative plan matters when it achieves the same goal with a relevant advantage or avoids a crucial constraint. Use a common baseline and time horizon. Compare complete plans rather than the best feature of one against the worst feature of another.
The existence of an alternative does not refute the claim that the original plan can work. It can weaken a claim that the original is necessary, best or cheapest. Match the criticism to the exact wording: “will help” and “is the only way” require different support.
ORIGINAL WORKED EXAMPLE
A manager says outsourcing is the only way to clear a backlog by Friday. A verified internal reassignment can also clear it by Friday without disrupting other required work. What is undermined?
Answer The claim that outsourcing is the only feasible route, not necessarily its effectiveness.
07 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
A plan’s support improves when evidence tests its actual mechanism, population, scale and goal. Satisfaction with reminders is weaker evidence for fewer late returns than actual late-return rates under comparable conditions. High adoption is not the same as successful impact.
When outcomes conflict, state the trade-off rather than inventing a single ranking. A transport plan can shorten commutes while increasing cost. If the task gives no priority or weighting, the evidence may not determine which plan is best. On a multiple-choice question, however, the stated conclusion normally identifies the target criterion.
08 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
Treat the stated conditions as complete for the numerical exercises; give the requested outcome.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
A
A links the action to the cause of missed appointments and supplies behavioral response. B through E are background without a stated causal link.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 2
−$15,000, a net first-year cost.
$15,000−$5,000−$25,000=−$15,000. Recurring annual savings would be $10,000 under unchanged conditions; the first year includes installation.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 3
It rises by 60%.
New total =0.8×2=1.6 times old total. Efficiency per visit improves, but the larger number of visits more than offsets it.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 4
No.
It changes parking location without necessarily eliminating trips. A local-space goal might be met, but the stated town-wide traffic goal is not established.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 5
A timing-based feasibility failure for the Monday plan.
The required input cannot arrive before the deadline. The plan might work later, but that does not satisfy the stated timing.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 6
A saving of $0.30 per shipment.
$0.50−$0.20=$0.30. The added handling is a countervailing effect but does not fully offset the materials saving.
09 / UNDERSTAND & APPLY
A complete evaluation preserves both the objective and the strength of the claim.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 1
No.
A provides more time reduction; B costs less. Which trade-off is preferred requires a criterion or constraint. The data alone do not supply the missing preference.
ORIGINAL PRACTICE · 2
No; it refutes the “only way” claim.
An effective alternative defeats necessity or exclusivity, not the original plan’s possible effectiveness. Claims of cheapest or best would require comparative evidence.
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