In the United States, about $5,200 per person per year is spent on health care, while in Britain the amount is about half that. A recent study indicated that middle-aged white Americans have a significantly higher rate of diabetes and heart disease than do middle-aged white Britons. Even after eliminating from the study the lifestyle differences of diet, exercise, smoking, and drinking, the data showed that the Americans have poorer health than their British counterparts.


The statements above, if true, best support which of the following assertions?

a) Health care spending in the United States should be reduced by 50%.
b) More expensive health care causes a higher incidence of certain diseases.
c) The money spent on health care in the United States is not being used effectively.
d) The average health care spending for middle-aged white Americans is probably less than the average health care spending for Americans in general.
e) Something other than diet, exercise, smoking, and drinking must account for the difference in health for the two groups in the study.

why is e wrong? is it because it is stated in the argument? what if americans are generally unhealthy because of genetics etc... not an external factor, so that is accounted for in E
_________________

Consider kudos, they are good for health

I went for C too.
Whats the OA?
_________________

Give [highlight]KUDOS [/highlight] if you like my post.

Always do things which make you feel ALIVE!!!

i agree it is E. since this is controlled then other factors apply
_________________

If you like my answers please +1 kudos!

For this type of inference/draw a conclusion question (and when you see the phrase "best supports which of the following" it generally means you are dealing with that kind of question)-- you always want to stay *as close to the specific wording of the argument as possible.* One of GMAC's favorite tricks is coming up with conclusions that most reasonable people would draw but are not necessarily true given the exact wording of the argument. It's often the teeny tiny words, which casual/speedy readers gloss over, that are the key to knowing in black/white terms whether an answer choice is wrong.

These answers are riddled with classic distortions of the seemingly reasonable type. Choices A and B contain common "red flag" words-- whenever you see these words, perk up and pay extra attention.

(A) "should be"-- if you are inferring that something SHOULD BE done--a recommendation-- make sure that the argument itself has that thrust. Here the entire argument is a list of facts and there is no recommendation made.

(B) "causes" -- causality is always something to be suspicious of, and even more so when there is only correlational evidence. Remember what your high school science teacher said: "Correlation does not imply causation." Here there is only correlational information.

Choice (C) is something that a reasonable person might think in the non-GMAT world. In the US right now, this is a huge argument being made-- "Look at the rest of the world! Why are we spending more but seeing an increasingly less healthy population?" BUT the very specific wording of this conclusion sets the argument scope around the EFFECTIVENESS of spending...there is nothing mentioned in the argument about effectiveness. Also, I've found in the past that it's often useful to be suspicious of answers that are in the popular consciousness in a large way-- people are attracted to the familiar, and the test writers know this.

Choice (D) uses another familiar trick-- take words from the argument and jumble them around a little. The comparison in the statement is between middle-aged white Americans and middle-aged white Britons-- the comparison in (D) is between two different types of Americans.

Choice (E), as Dawgie states above, says almost exactly the same thing as the last sentence in the stimulus. It might even seem too suspiciously obvious for some test-takers. But the correct answer for this type of question is the one that requires the smallest possible jump in logic, and (E) does this.


The more you do these, the more quickly you'll be able to spot these tiny words and the traps laid out for you. I'm guessing that many of the posters above, after reading the argument, were able to POE through the answer choices in less than 30 seconds. If it takes you longer right now-- don't lose heart-- keep practicing identifying those little words and your speed will pick up as your pattern recognition skills refine.
_________________

JP Park | Manhattan GMAT Instructor | Los Angeles

Manhattan GMAT Discount | Manhattan GMAT Reviews