Last visit was: 19 Nov 2025, 18:29 It is currently 19 Nov 2025, 18:29
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
   1   2 
805+ Level|   Conclusion|      
User avatar
dagarwal2007
User avatar
Joined: 27 Nov 2019
Last visit: 23 Feb 2020
Posts: 4
Own Kudos:
1
Given Kudos: 137
Posts: 4
Kudos: 1
A new medical procedure replaces all three of the tiny bones in the in 21 Dec 2019, 03:07
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Options are:
(A) It is possible to hear without the use of the three tiny bones in the inner ear.
(B) Most hearing loss is due to neurological malfunctioning.
(C) More people have impaired hearing because of neurological damage than because of damage to the tiny bones of the inner ear.
(D) Hearing loss due to neurological damage is more severe than hearing loss due to damage to the tiny bones in the inner ear.
(E) The use of fiberglass cannot help people who have lost hearing due to neurological damage.[/quote]

Solution-
Medical procedure replaces tiny bones with FB.
FB is useful for ppl whose tiny ear bones are damaged.
FB not useful to ppl with neurological malfunction.
Conc: FB useful for small % of hearing impaired ppl.

It is clear that % hearing impaired ppl with damaged ear bones are less but that doesn't mean that rest of hearing impaired ppl have only neurological disorder. There can be other sub groups also.

PoE-
A- Since FB replaces tiny bones which in turn leads to good hearing so it follows from conclusion
B- Can't say as pointed out above (...doesn't mean that rest of hearing impaired ppl have only neurological disorder.)
C- Reason is same as B
D- Can't say
E- Its mentioned 'neurological malfunction' & not 'damage
User avatar
adi883
User avatar
Joined: 04 May 2022
Last visit: 14 Jun 2025
Posts: 16
Own Kudos:
6
Given Kudos: 249
Posts: 16
Kudos: 6
A new medical procedure replaces all three of the tiny bones in the in 22 Sep 2022, 15:36
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
just a note I made for myself and added to my error log. Thought I might as well share it. I hope I am correct and that it makes some sense.

The trick played on us: in “finding the conclusion type questions”, the last sentence of the argument may sound like a conclusion, but it's not. In this case, it's “This procedure will benefit a relatively small percentage of the hearing-impaired population” It’s in fact a premise leading us to the conclusion. This last line tricks us into going on a different path altogether to try and find an assumption. How can I deduce an 'assumption' without a conclusion? The conclusion is not provided in the argument, in fact, we have to find it.

avoid giving assumption-type answers to ‘find the conclusion type questions. (for the most part)
We can derive an assumption from a conclusion. But we can't derive a conclusion from an assumption. (that’s the author’s job)

A conclusion is part of every argument with or without assumption. There could be an assumption in the argument that must be true for the conclusion to hold. Or it could be that the premise is straightforward enough for the conclusion, but the conclusion is always mentioned in an argument

So "in finding the conclusion question"- you treat every line as a premise/ counter-premise, and ask yourself: what can I conclude from this argument?
User avatar
surya.nair
User avatar
Joined: 26 Nov 2023
Last visit: 01 Oct 2025
Posts: 11
Own Kudos:
7
Given Kudos: 130
Posts: 11
Kudos: 7
A new medical procedure replaces all three of the tiny bones in the in 07 May 2024, 11:44
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
 
KarishmaB

HarveyS
A new medical procedure replaces all three of the tiny bones in the inner ear with a single piece of ultra-thin fiberglass. The procedure has been found to greatly improve hearing in people who have experienced damage to these bones, though it is useless to people whose hearing loss stems from a neurological malfunction. This procedure will benefit a relatively small percentage of the hearing-impaired population

Which of the following can be concluded from the argument above?

A)It is possible to hear without the use of the three tiny bones in the inner ear.
B)Most hearing loss is due to neurological malfunctioning.
C)More people have impaired hearing because of neurological damage than because of damage to the tiny bones of the inner ear.
D)Hearing loss due to neurological damage is more severe than hearing loss due to damage to the tiny bones in the inner ear.
E)The use of fiberglass cannot help people who have lost hearing due to neurological damage.
Argument:

- In a new procedure, all 3 tiny bones are replaced by a piece of fibreglass.
- It improves hearing in people who have experienced damage to these bones
- It is useless to people whose hearing loss stems from a neurological malfunction.
- It will benefit a relatively small percentage of the hearing-impaired population (note that this is not derived from the previous two statements. This just tells us that the number of people who have hearing loss due to damage to these 3 bones is a relatively small percentage)


A)It is possible to hear without the use of the three tiny bones in the inner ear.
Since it "improves" hearing, we can say that it is possible to hear even with damage to the 3 bones.

B)Most hearing loss is due to neurological malfunctioning.
Not necessary. We know that the number of people who have hearing loss due to damage to these 3 bones is a relatively small percentage. There could be 5 other reasons for hearing loss.

C)More people have impaired hearing because of neurological damage than because of damage to the tiny bones of the inner ear.
Again, not necessary. We don't know how many people have impaired hearing because of neurological damage. It could be a small number or a big number. We just know that people who have hearing loss due to damage to these 3 bones is a relatively small percentage

D)Hearing loss due to neurological damage is more severe than hearing loss due to damage to the tiny bones in the inner ear.
Not known. Which loss is more severe is certainly not known. We just know that a piece of fibreglass can fix the 3 bones damage. How and how much can we fix the neurological damage, we cannot say.

E)The use of fiberglass cannot help people who have lost hearing due to neurological damage.
Not known. This procedure (replacing 3 tiny bones with a piece of fibreglass) does not help people who have lost hearing due to neurological damage. Can use of fibreglass in some other way help people with neurological damage, we can't say.

Answer (A)
Show more
­KarishmaB how can you conclusively say that damage to the bone means it's completely useless? What if the damage is 90% and 10% still functions, hence we cannot say that its possible to hear without the bone.
User avatar
KarishmaB
User avatar
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 16,267
Own Kudos:
77,001
 [1]
Given Kudos: 482
Location: Pune, India
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 16,267
Kudos: 77,001
 [1]
A new medical procedure replaces all three of the tiny bones in the in 09 May 2024, 02:19
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
surya.nair

KarishmaB

HarveyS
A new medical procedure replaces all three of the tiny bones in the inner ear with a single piece of ultra-thin fiberglass. The procedure has been found to greatly improve hearing in people who have experienced damage to these bones, though it is useless to people whose hearing loss stems from a neurological malfunction. This procedure will benefit a relatively small percentage of the hearing-impaired population

Which of the following can be concluded from the argument above?

A)It is possible to hear without the use of the three tiny bones in the inner ear.
B)Most hearing loss is due to neurological malfunctioning.
C)More people have impaired hearing because of neurological damage than because of damage to the tiny bones of the inner ear.
D)Hearing loss due to neurological damage is more severe than hearing loss due to damage to the tiny bones in the inner ear.
E)The use of fiberglass cannot help people who have lost hearing due to neurological damage.
Argument:

- In a new procedure, all 3 tiny bones are replaced by a piece of fibreglass.
- It improves hearing in people who have experienced damage to these bones
- It is useless to people whose hearing loss stems from a neurological malfunction.
- It will benefit a relatively small percentage of the hearing-impaired population (note that this is not derived from the previous two statements. This just tells us that the number of people who have hearing loss due to damage to these 3 bones is a relatively small percentage)


A)It is possible to hear without the use of the three tiny bones in the inner ear.
Since it "improves" hearing, we can say that it is possible to hear even with damage to the 3 bones.

B)Most hearing loss is due to neurological malfunctioning.
Not necessary. We know that the number of people who have hearing loss due to damage to these 3 bones is a relatively small percentage. There could be 5 other reasons for hearing loss.

C)More people have impaired hearing because of neurological damage than because of damage to the tiny bones of the inner ear.
Again, not necessary. We don't know how many people have impaired hearing because of neurological damage. It could be a small number or a big number. We just know that people who have hearing loss due to damage to these 3 bones is a relatively small percentage

D)Hearing loss due to neurological damage is more severe than hearing loss due to damage to the tiny bones in the inner ear.
Not known. Which loss is more severe is certainly not known. We just know that a piece of fibreglass can fix the 3 bones damage. How and how much can we fix the neurological damage, we cannot say.

E)The use of fiberglass cannot help people who have lost hearing due to neurological damage.
Not known. This procedure (replacing 3 tiny bones with a piece of fibreglass) does not help people who have lost hearing due to neurological damage. Can use of fibreglass in some other way help people with neurological damage, we can't say.

Answer (A)
­KarishmaB how can you conclusively say that damage to the bone means it's completely useless? What if the damage is 90% and 10% still functions, hence we cannot say that its possible to hear without the bone.
Show more
­
When we say that something is damaged, it means it is  not serving the purpose it is supposed to. But in any case, option (A) is certainly correct. We are told that in the new procedure, all 3 bones are removed. We know that after the procedure, people start hearing even better. So you can hear even without the bones. Even if you have put something else in place of the bones, the bones have been removed. So it is possible to hear without the bones. 
   1   2 
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7443 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
231 posts
miag
189 posts