GMAT Weaken CR: Plan and Goal | OG | Secret Passwords

The Official GMAT Weaken question that begins "Secret passwords are often used to control access to computers" is a clear example of how to approach a conclusion stated as a recommendation.

Many Weaken arguments end with a recommendation: someone should do X in order to achieve Y. If you read that conclusion as one block, almost every choice that mentions the plan starts to look relevant, and it becomes hard to tell which one actually hurts the argument.

The fix is to split the conclusion into two parts before you read the choices: the plan, and the goal the plan is meant to achieve. Once you have both, the target for the correct answer becomes very specific.

The Standard Every Weakener Must Meet

Start with the standard every correct weakener must meet: it brings in a new piece of information that reduces your belief in the conclusion, without challenging any premise. (If you are new to this standard, this article breaks it down.) For a plan-based conclusion, "reducing your belief in the conclusion" has a precise meaning. The correct answer must make it less believable that this plan will achieve this goal. Not that the plan is bad in some general sense, and not that other things also matter, but that this plan is less likely to deliver the goal the author claims it will.

The Question Setup

Let's see how this works in a question.

In this question, the argument is about passwords used to control access to computers. When employees choose their own passwords, they often pick ones that are easy to guess, such as their initials or birthdates. The author recommends that employers assign randomly generated passwords instead, in order to improve security.

Split the Conclusion

Split the conclusion. The plan is to assign randomly generated passwords rather than let employees choose their own. The goal is to improve security. The author's logic is that random passwords are harder to guess than initials or birthdates.

Now define what the correct answer must convey: new information that makes it less believable that switching to randomly generated passwords will improve security, while accepting the premise that employees who choose their own passwords often pick easily guessed ones.

The Correct Answer

The correct choice says that randomly generated passwords are so hard for employees to remember that they often write them down in places where others can easily see them.

Check it against the standard. Is it new information? Yes. The passage says nothing about whether employees can remember random passwords or what they do when they cannot. Does it challenge a premise? No. Employees who choose their own passwords still pick easy ones. The choice is about what happens after the plan is in place. Does it reduce your belief that the plan will improve security? Yes. The plan was meant to remove one weakness, passwords that are easy to guess. This choice shows the plan creating another one, passwords that are easy to see. If others can simply read the password, it no longer matters how hard it would have been to guess.

Notice where this new weakness comes from. The same feature that makes random passwords hard to guess also makes them hard to remember. The plan's strength is what produces the problem. That is what makes this choice so effective: it does not bring in an outside factor, it shows the plan working against its own goal.

Also notice what the choice did not do. It did not prove that security will get worse. It did not say how often exposed passwords are actually misused, or claim that random passwords are easy to guess. It only gave you a real reason to doubt that the switch improves security, and that is all a weakener needs to do.

The Habit This Builds

So before you read the choices in a plan-based Weaken question, ask yourself:

What exactly is the plan?
What exactly is the goal?
What would make it less believable that this plan achieves this goal?

Then check every choice against that last question. A choice can discuss the plan, the goal, or the topic in general and still leave your belief in the conclusion exactly where it was. The correct one is the choice that changes whether you expect the plan to work.

About the Weaken Beginner Series

This question is part of the Weaken Beginner Series, in which easy Official GMAT questions are used not to test what you know, but to reveal how you think. Each question targets a specific reasoning habit, one that shows up in a simple form on easy questions and a complex one on hard questions. If you are getting started with Weaken questions or if Weaken questions feel inconsistent for you, this series is built to show you exactly where the process is breaking down.

Solve the question on your own first. The reasoning you apply matters more than the answer you reach.

Want to see where your own CR process holds up and where it breaks down? Take the free CR diagnostic at gmatquizmaster.com, and get detailed feedback on every answer choice.

Weakening a Plan? Split the Conclusion Into the Plan and Its Goal First