When people engage in activities that help others, their brain releases endorphins,
the brain’s natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. It has
been suggested that regular release of endorphins increases people’s longevity.
And a statistic on adults who regularly engage in volunteer work helping others
shows that they live longer, on average, than adults who do not volunteer. However,
that statistic would be what we would expect even if volunteering does not
boost longevity, because ________________________
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
A. In the communities studied, women were much more likely to do regular
volunteer work than men were, and women tend to live longer than men do.
B. The number of young adults who do regular volunteer work is on the increase
C. The feelings of well-being induced by endorphins can, at least for a time, mask
the symptoms of various conditions and diseases, provided the symptoms are
mild.
D. It is rare for a person to keep up a regular schedule of volunteer work throughout
his or her life.
E. Some people find that keeping a commitment to do regular volunteer work
becomes a source of stress in their lives.

I am not able to understand meaning of this line,Is it something which is weakening or strengthening the argument
However,
that statistic would be what we would expect even if volunteering does not
boost longevity, because ________________________

It means that
Release Endorphin may or may not cause -----> Longevity

as per A(Alternate reason) woman volunteers ----> Better Longevity ----> Better Longevity for volunteers.

Hence A is true.
_________________

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That's a good question. I'm happy to help.

Again, the prompt:
When people engage in activities that help others, their brain releases endorphins, the brain’s natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. It has been suggested that regular release of endorphins increases people’s longevity. And a statistic on adults who regularly engage in volunteer work helping others shows that they live longer, on average, than adults who do not volunteer. However, that statistic would be what we would expect even if volunteering does not boost longevity, because ________________________

It's a tricky prompt, because we want something that would explain, for reasons independent of endorphins & the inherent benefits of volunteering, why folks who volunteer live longer.

(A) In the communities studied, women were much more likely to do regular volunteer work than men were, and women tend to live longer than men do.

If women volunteer more in this population, then of course they tend to live longer -- but that has to do with complex biological factors having nothing to do with volunteering. This is an excellent alternative explanation of why folks who volunteer would live longer.

(B) The number of young adults who do regular volunteer work is on the increase

These folks are completely irrelevant to the argument. The argument concerns competing explanations of the fact that folks who volunteer live long lives. If young people are volunteering, we have no idea how long they will live --- it's likely we will have to wait 1/2 a century or more to find out how long these young people live. The whole argument is about total length of life, so young people are, more than anyone else, most distant from the time when we know the total length of their lives. Does that make sense?

(C) The feelings of well-being induced by endorphins can, at least for a time, mask the symptoms of various conditions and diseases, provided the symptoms are mild.

This statement casts doubt on the argument that endorphins make you live longer, so it is a weakening in the general sense, but it ignores the question -- it says absolutely nothing about why folks who volunteer would live longer.

(D) It is rare for a person to keep up a regular schedule of volunteer work throughout his or her life.

This raises a possible statistical problem in the study, suggesting a reason why it might be hard to get strong evidence. In that sense, it may be a weakener in a general sort of way. The point is, though, the prompt cites a study in which they found conclusive evidence --- folks who volunteer live longer. Whatever the nature of the data was, we found evidence for that. The prompt question is about how to explain that, and (D) simply ignores that question.

(E) Some people find that keeping a commitment to do regular volunteer work becomes a source of stress in their lives.

This is an argument that volunteering might not be healthy and might even contribute to factors in an earlier death. In that sense, it's a general sort of weakener. Once again, like (C) &(D), it weakens the original argument but doesn't address the actual question being asked. The question is about alternate explanations of the fact that folks who volunteer live longer. Denying that fact does not work as an alternate explanation.

Does all this make sense? Let me know if you have any further questions.

Mike
_________________

Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep

Mike. Thank you for your explanation. My question with A is that it introduces two variables: 1. They are women and 2. They do more volunteer work than men.

So how do we know they live longer is due to the fact that they are women but not the fact they do more volunteer work?

I think this is a very tough question because A introduces a new possibility (live longer because they are women) yet still keeps the other possibility open (live longer because women do more volunteer work than men).

Thank you for the very detailed explanation. To be honest I haven't read it in its entirety but will do so tomorrow. Nevertheless, it deserves a kudo. Thanks again!

Responding to a pm:

Let's review the argument:

"When people help others, their brain releases endorphins, something that makes them feel well. It has been suggested that regular release of endorphins increases people’s longevity. A statistic shows that people who volunteer live longer than those who do not volunteer."

The main idea to take from here is that a statistic shows that people who volunteer live longer than those who don't. e.g. people who volunteer have an avg life of 85 yrs and those who don't have an avg life of 82 yrs. The statistic would be something like this.

Last sentence: However, that statistic would be what we would expect even if volunteering does not boost longevity, because

Here the author says that we actually expect such a statistic, such numbers, even if volunteering has no link to avg life. He says we expect that people who volunteer will live longer even if there is no connection between volunteering and long life. You have to provide a reason why we would expect this i.e. you need to provide another explanation why people who volunteer live longer. What other explanations can you think of without reading the options? I would say 'probably people who find time to volunteer usually find time to exercise too and hence live longer' or 'people who find time to volunteer (i.e. who care about others well being) are more conscious about their own well being too and hence eat healthy food which could lead to the longer life' etc
That is, we have to provide a reason which explains why people who volunteer live longer even if volunteering and endorphins etc have nothing to do with longer life.

(A) tells you that in the communities studied, women were much more likely to do regular volunteer work than men were, and women tend to live longer than men do.

So we have another reason why volunteers live longer - not because they volunteer but because majority of them at women (and we are given that women live longer than men)

The whole argument is something like this:
A: A statistic shows that people who wear skirts have longer hair than people who don't.
B: That statistic would be what we would expect even if skirts do not boost hair growth because ....

B is going to give you a reason why people who wear skirts end up having longer hair even if hair and skirts have no connection. That is, B is going to show that it is not skirts that are related to hair but skirts that are related to some other feature which is related to hair.

B: That statistic would be what we would expect even if skirts do not boost hair growth because people who wear skirts are generally women and women keep longer hair than men.

I hope you get the drift of the argument.
_________________

Karishma
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor
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