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VerbalCritical Reasoning

Free GMAT Critical Reasoning Practice Question

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A regional appliance maker now imports all of its control boards from a single overseas supplier. To protect itself against shipping delays, the company plans to keep a 90-day inventory buffer of boards in a domestic warehouse. The company concludes that this buffer will prevent any production stoppage caused by a delay in board shipments. Which of the following, if true, most weakens the company's conclusion?

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Answer & Explanation

Correct answer

A

The conclusion is that a 90-day buffer prevents any stoppage from a board-shipment delay. The buffer works only if no delay outlasts the cushion. (A) reports delays that have exceeded 90 days, so the buffer can run dry before shipments resume, exactly the stoppage the company says it has prevented. That directly undercuts the conclusion.

(B) concerns supplier capacity, which does not threaten the cushion. (C) raises cost, but the claim is about reliability, not expense. (D) describes competitors and says nothing about this firm's protection. (E) introduces a different part and supplier, outside the board-delay claim.

Only (A) attacks the link between the buffer and the promise of no stoppage.