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Option ‘e’ implies that brains and muscle are similar in one respect (like physical exercise tones up the muscles, reading magazines tones up the brain)because they are similar in one respect i.e. being physical organ.
Hence, e is the answer.
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CrackVerbalGMAT
Let us try to simplify the argument --

Exercise --> Better performance of physical organs such as the heart and the lungs

Brain = Physical organ

THEREFORE,
read the magazine (= Stimulus) that exercises your brain --> Improve your brain performance


As we read through, we figure that "brain" and "other physical organs" might not be comparable and that the argument is flawed.
Just because the brain is a "physical organ" we cannot infer that results similar to those found in heart and lungs will be applicable to the brain. Note that the initial argument is applicable only to some physical organs, not all. Moreover, the initial argument talks about physical exercise, not mental exercise. The argument makes the faulty assumption that because the brain is a "physical organ", similar results will be repeated.

Option A - Incorrect

"evidence that subscribing to the product being advertised has desirable consequences" -- No such evidence is offered. The only evidence offered is about improvement in physical performance.

Option B - Incorrect

"It ridicules people" -- no "ridicule" is made in the argument. "by suggesting that they do not believe that exercise will improve brain capacity" -- again no such suggestion is made

Option C - Incorrect

"process by which the product [= Stimulus] brings about the result [= increase in brain performance] claimed for its use" -- no such thing is done.

Option D - Incorrect

No careful analysis of "the concept of exercise" is performed.

Option E - Correct answer

"similar in another respect" = both are physical organs ---> "similar in one respect" = Exercise LEADS to improvement in performance of that organ.

Dear expert, nowhere in the argument it is mentioned that muscle is a physical organ. Only heart and lungs are given as an example. Hence, I am not able to infer E.
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Nowhere in the argument is mentioned that brain and muscles are similar, since it is not even said that muscle is a physical organ.
Muscles are barely mentioned in the passage, and they are referred to as 'muscle tone', not even directly as 'muscles'.
The only thing that they have in common is that apparently both MUSCLE TONE and brain can be improved through exercise:

" Exercise leads to better performance of such physical organs as the heart and the lungs, as well as to improvement in muscle tone."
And then "Subscribe to Stimulus: read the magazine that exercises your brain."

So IMO (D) seems quite reasonable here:
(D) It supports its recommendation by a careful analysis of the concept of exercise.
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I had a similar reasoning and picked D too. Now I am scratching my head on when to give leeway to some words in the argument and when not to (here, muscle being physical organ for example. we cannot say brain and muscle have exercise in common, because that's what the argument is trying to get to)

Experts please help on why D isn't correct MartyMurray DmitryFarber GMATNinja
Ale300503
Nowhere in the argument is mentioned that brain and muscles are similar, since it is not even said that muscle is a physical organ.
Muscles are barely mentioned in the passage, and they are referred to as 'muscle tone', not even directly as 'muscles'.
The only thing that they have in common is that apparently both MUSCLE TONE and brain can be improved through exercise:

" Exercise leads to better performance of such physical organs as the heart and the lungs, as well as to improvement in muscle tone."
And then "Subscribe to Stimulus: read the magazine that exercises your brain."

So IMO (D) seems quite reasonable here:
(D) It supports its recommendation by a careful analysis of the concept of exercise.
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First let's address the task. The question is just asking for any strategy that is used--it doesn't have to be the main point, the most-mentioned word, or the only strategy used. So we can't go for D just because exercise is mentioned a great deal and the similarity between the brain and muscles is not. We have to look at exactly what each answer is saying the argument does.

E says that the argument IMPLIES (not states) a similarity between brains and muscle. That's certainly the reasoning the argument is going with: Physical organs improve with exercise, and since the brain is a physical organ, it can improve with exercise. So you should buy this product to exercise your brain. Not a classic argument, really. :) But they're relying on a similarity between the brain and other body parts. I agree that the "muscle" part of this is a bit odd--this could have been better-written--but it is one of the things that is getting compared, even if the statement is not very direct.

D, on the other hand, says that a careful analysis is made, and we just don't have that. The argument doesn't define exercise in any way, nor does it explain how it produces its results. It only tells us that exercise has benefits. That does not constitute a careful analysis. Imagine that you hadn't heard of exercise before. Would this have cleared it up for you? Not at all. You could only guess that it's something you do for your body, and that would be about it. Take the phrasing of the answer as literally as you can; where is the analysis?
ManifestDreamMBA
I had a similar reasoning and picked D too. Now I am scratching my head on when to give leeway to some words in the argument and when not to (here, muscle being physical organ for example. we cannot say brain and muscle have exercise in common, because that's what the argument is trying to get to)

Experts please help on why D isn't correct MartyMurray DmitryFarber GMATNinja
Ale300503
Nowhere in the argument is mentioned that brain and muscles are similar, since it is not even said that muscle is a physical organ.
Muscles are barely mentioned in the passage, and they are referred to as 'muscle tone', not even directly as 'muscles'.
The only thing that they have in common is that apparently both MUSCLE TONE and brain can be improved through exercise:

" Exercise leads to better performance of such physical organs as the heart and the lungs, as well as to improvement in muscle tone."
And then "Subscribe to Stimulus: read the magazine that exercises your brain."

So IMO (D) seems quite reasonable here:
(D) It supports its recommendation by a careful analysis of the concept of exercise.
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Thanks Dmitry, this is really helpful explanation

Here is my analysis:

(A) It cites experimental evidence that subscribing to the product being advertised has desirable consequences.
There is no experimental evidence regarding magazines

(B) It ridicules people who do not subscribe to Stimulus by suggesting that they do not believe that exercise will improve brain capacity.
Nothing like that has been mentioned in the passage. It just mentions people should, there's no judgement

(C) It explains the process by which the product being advertised brings about the result claimed for its use.
There is no process explained regarding the magazines, only parallels drawn based on anecdotal basis

(D) It supports its recommendation by a careful analysis of the concept of exercise.
Went with this after elimination, thinking the parallel reasoning helps justify exercising benefits and hence, the rec for subscription. But now, I think I went easy with the wording here - the only reason because of which I rejected E

(E) It implies that brains and muscle are similar in one respect because they are similar in another respect.
Had rejected this because muscle has not been mentioned as a physical organ
DmitryFarber
First let's address the task. The question is just asking for any strategy that is used--it doesn't have to be the main point, the most-mentioned word, or the only strategy used. So we can't go for D just because exercise is mentioned a great deal and the similarity between the brain and muscles is not. We have to look at exactly what each answer is saying the argument does.

E says that the argument IMPLIES (not states) a similarity between brains and muscle. That's certainly the reasoning the argument is going with: Physical organs improve with exercise, and since the brain is a physical organ, it can improve with exercise. So you should buy this product to exercise your brain. Not a classic argument, really. :) But they're relying on a similarity between the brain and other body parts. I agree that the "muscle" part of this is a bit odd--this could have been better-written--but it is one of the things that is getting compared, even if the statement is not very direct.

D, on the other hand, says that a careful analysis is made, and we just don't have that. The argument doesn't define exercise in any way, nor does it explain how it produces its results. It only tells us that exercise has benefits. That does not constitute a careful analysis. Imagine that you hadn't heard of exercise before. Would this have cleared it up for you? Not at all. You could only guess that it's something you do for your body, and that would be about it. Take the phrasing of the answer as literally as you can; where is the analysis?
ManifestDreamMBA
I had a similar reasoning and picked D too. Now I am scratching my head on when to give leeway to some words in the argument and when not to (here, muscle being physical organ for example. we cannot say brain and muscle have exercise in common, because that's what the argument is trying to get to)

Experts please help on why D isn't correct MartyMurray DmitryFarber GMATNinja
Ale300503
Nowhere in the argument is mentioned that brain and muscles are similar, since it is not even said that muscle is a physical organ.
Muscles are barely mentioned in the passage, and they are referred to as 'muscle tone', not even directly as 'muscles'.
The only thing that they have in common is that apparently both MUSCLE TONE and brain can be improved through exercise:

" Exercise leads to better performance of such physical organs as the heart and the lungs, as well as to improvement in muscle tone."
And then "Subscribe to Stimulus: read the magazine that exercises your brain."

So IMO (D) seems quite reasonable here:
(D) It supports its recommendation by a careful analysis of the concept of exercise.
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