Critical Reasoning: Conclusion Weakening Questions

A new form of digital memory stores larger amounts of information than current forms by compressing graphic, audio, and video files according to how often they are used, as calculated by an algorithm. Files that are not used often at all are compressed to lower quality levels than those that are used frequently, making the capacity of the new memory system almost three times larger than that of existing memory systems. The company responsible for the new digital memory's creation plans to market it for business and personal use since a consumer poll reveals that in both cases extremely large capacities for storage are always in demand.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt regarding the effectiveness of the company's plan?

Incorrect.

[[snippet]]

This answer choice supports the company's plan. It does so by supporting the process of digital compression in general, and stating that compressed files are still usable.

Incorrect.

[[snippet]]

This answer choice neither weakens nor supports the company's plan. The last premise already tells us that digital storage is very important to both businesses and individuals. Therefore, the fact that to business it is more important is insignificant.

Incorrect.

[[snippet]]

This answer choice neither weakens nor supports the company's plan. This statement gives us a description of the relationship between digital memory and prices, and tells us how products using this memory are sold. However, this description doesn't relate directly to the new memory system.

Incorrect.

[[snippet]]

This answer choice neither weakens nor supports the plan put forward by the company. This statement tells us that if a memory system is older than a certain product, then it will not be able to be used by that product. This fact has no influence on the company's plan. 

Fantastic!

[[snippet]]

This answer choice weakens the company's plan. If a company at some point needs a file for a crucial issue, then the fact that that file may be of a lower quality could render it useless. Even though many files stored by companies are hardly ever touched, this answer choice states that they may be as important as files that are used regularly.

The compression of all types of digital files can be executed in a sophisticated manner so that the compressed result has not been distorted in a way that will render it undesirable or ineffective for further use.

In a recent survey it was noted that the storage and management of digital information in products receive more attention by users looking for solutions for commercial applications than for personal applications.

Most products that rely on digital memory to function are priced relative to the capacity of the storage provided by that memory although in some cases products are sold separately to memory components allowing the consumer to then choose from a variety of storage sizes.

Almost 90% of the vast number of files stored by businesses are never retrieved and are stored at a high cost, but when a specific file is needed, it may contain information relevant to current issues that may be crucial to the business.

Memory systems are likely to be incompatible with a digital product that was developed before their release since the compatibility of digital products is limited and tends, therefore, to be focused on integration with memory systems released at the same time.