Advertisement: Of the many over-the-counter medications marketed for

I would go with D. Although the other medicines might be as effective, sinease is the cheapest, and therefore probably the best buy (as the argument states) - however what if there is a cheaper alternative for the same symptoms?

Anything that says "Well, Sinease is not the best" is the deal.

A. Most of the over-the-counter medications marketed for the relief of sinus headache are equally effective per dose in providing such relief. -->
Other Sinease
equally effective -------------------equally effective
mopre costly-------------------------cheap

Sinease is still best.
B. Many of the over-the-counter medications marketed for the relief of sinus headache contain the same active ingredient as SinEase does. --> is not relavant.
D. An over-the-counter medication that is marketed for the relief of symptoms of head cold is identical in composition to SinEase but costs less per dose.
Head cold is not Sinease. Case closed.
E The per dose price for any given over-the-counter medication marketed for the relief of sinus headache is higher for smaller packages than it is for larger packages. -- out of scope.


People who suffer from frequent sinus headaches are strongly advised to consult a doctor before taking any over-the-counter medications.
This statement indirectly says ok --sinease is not the best deal. may be it is not for you. pl check out with your doctor first if it is best deal for you or not.

Why it is D? I don't understand

MentorTutoring
If we see argument below mentioned the question.
" SineEase costs the least per dose."
Now in option D we are saying there is another medicine that costs less per dose than SinEase.
So we should not treat every information given in the argument completely true ?
Earlier I used to believe whatever information given in argument is completely true.

Even if you consider all the information stated in the options as true. Only D is weakening the argument stated in the passage.
The passage depends on whether sinEase is a good medicine in all aspect or not, we know SinEase is effective as well as cheaper. The argument will only weaken if we have substitute of SinEase with same effects and less Cost. And D option is stating the presence of that medicine only.

Posted from my mobile device

I don't have any doubt related to OA.
This is my observation in this question and your post doesn't solve my query.
Thanks.

The Options can be true or can't be. Depending upon the CR question type. If you are trying to prove very statement true, then it will be very difficult for you to analyze answer. Its best to negate the option and see its effect onto the main statement. The answer will effect the question whether its present or not. So In my opinion every statement is true in its context, but if we are considering it effectiveness in context to passage it will create a real mess. Because there are many possible scenarios with single given statement, we have to check the best scope for the solution.

Hello, Harsh2111s. I can appreciate the point you are hoping to make, and you should take a premise in the passage to be true. At the same time, you can and should question conclusions that may be flawed, conclusions that are based on those premises. If the conclusion here is that SineEase is the best buy for its intended purpose, then we have to find an answer that allows us to appreciate that SineEase may not be the best buy. Now, I know you agree with the OA, so I will not justify it further, but take note of the frame of the passage here, an advertisement. Given that an ad is meant to present a biased view to promote a product, you can think of the premise as more of a claim. Someone has written an ad, presumably someone from SineEase, claiming that the product is just as effective as other sinus medications while at the same time costing less. We simply have to appreciate the context of the passage to qualify the premise.

I hope that helps. I was going to circle back to our dialogue from yesterday about that boldface question, but this new request caught my eye.

- Andrew

Conclusion-SineEase is the best buy.
Premise-SineEase costs the least per dose. And SineEase is as effective per dose as the most effective of those other medications

(A) Most of the over-the-counter medications marketed for the relief of sinus headache are equally effective per dose in providing such relief.this is already given in the paragraph and doesnt weaken the conclusion

(B) Many of the over-the-counter medications marketed for the relief of sinus headache contain the same active ingredient as SineEase.Out of scope, composition of differences in same is not a topic of discussion

(C) People who suffer from frequent sinus headaches are strongly advised to consult a doctor before taking any over-the-counter medication.That would mean all over the counter medicines should not be taken. Also, frequent head aches is a special situation not referenced in the argument.

(D) An over-the-counter medication that is marketed for the relief of symptoms of head cold is identical in composition to SineEase but costs less per dose.So there is an alternative that is cheaper than Sineease and does the same thing? This destroys the argument that Sineease is the best buy.

(E) The per dose price for any given over-the-counter medication marketed for the relief of sinus headache is higher for smaller packages than it is for larger packages.Argument does not differentiate between prices of small and large packs. For all we know they have considered the large pack prices for the comparison, this is out of scope.

Ans D

The only reason why the argument says that SineEase is the best medicine out there is because of its efficacy and price.

Option D tells us that this medicine for head cold is identical in composition to SineEase (which means that this medicine for head cold will be equally effective in treating sinus headaches) and that it costs even lesser. Therefore we have weakened the original conclusion (Conclusion - SineEase is the best buy).

As per D, An over-the-counter medication that is marketed for the relief of symptoms of head cold is identical in composition to SineEase but costs less per dose.

the medication mentioned in option D is cheaper, identical to Sine Ease. Hence it makes sense to say that it will have the same effects as SineEase and also costs less per dose and therefore is the best buy.

PS : Hence it makes sense to say that it will have the same effects as SineEase (however we are making a slight assumption that factors say, shape of the medicine will not affect the effectiveness of the medication, but reasonable assumptions are OK on the GMAT)

Understanding the argument
SienEase is the best buy BECAUSE
1. As effective as the most effective
2. And Costs less per dose

One way to weaken is if there is another medication that is equally effective but costs less. That is what option D does.

Option elimination -

(A) Most of the over-the-counter medications marketed for the relief of sinus headache are equally effective per dose in providing such relief. Another weakener could have been if the SineEase required more doses. But this argument rules out that option by saying they are equally effective per dose. So at best, it's a strengthener.

(B) Many of the over-the-counter medications marketed for the relief of sinus headache contain the same active ingredient as SineEase. - If they contain the same active ingredient and SineEase is the cheapest. It strengthens the conclusion.

(C) People who suffer from frequent sinus headaches are strongly advised to consult a doctor before taking any over-the-counter medication. - out of scope.

(D) An over-the-counter medication that is marketed for the relief of symptoms of head cold is identical in composition to SineEase but costs less per dose. - per our pre-thinking.

(E) The per dose price for any given over-the-counter medication marketed for the relief of sinus headache is higher for smaller packages than it is for larger packages. - out of scope.

GMATNinja KarishmaB AjiteshArun
I can't see why (D) can be the answer.
Here is my understanding:

Of the many medications marketed for sinus headache, SineEase costs the least per dose.
SineEase is as effective per dose as the most effective of those other medications.

HENCE: For relief from sinus headaches, SineEase is the best buy.

Conclusion doesn't say, in general that SineEase is the best buy. It is narrowing the ''best buy'' in a specific subset.

(D) says: some ''XYZ'' medicine for cancer, which uses the same ingredients as SineEase cost less than ''SineEase''

(D) doesn't address the conclusion at all! Please help here..

­Hi ashutosh_73,

Here's the argument:
1. SE is [marketed for {X}].
2. SE costs the least per dose of the medications [marketed for {X}].
3. SE is as effective per dose as the most effective medication [marketed for {X}].
4. Therefore SE is the best buy for [{X}].

Notice how the support is about products "marketed for" {X}, but the conclusion is about the actual condition {X}.

According to option D, there's something else that's "identical in composition to" SE but "costs less per dose". It doesn't matter that this something else is marketed for {Y}. If it is identical in composition to SE, it is quite likely to be just as effective as SE for the condition {X}. And since it costs less, by the logic of the argument, it'll be a better buy than SE.­