Advertisement: When your car's engine is running at its normal

Question

Advertisement: When your car’s engine is running at its normal operating temperature, any major brand of motor oil will protect it about as well as Tuff does. When the engine is cold, it is a different story: Tuff motor oil flows better at lower temperatures than its major competitors do. So, if you want your car’s engine to have maximum protection, you should use Tuff.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument in the advertisement?

(A) Tuff motor oil provides above-average protection for engines that happen to overheat.

(B) Tuff motor oil is periodically supplied free of charge to automobile manufacturers to use in factory-new cars.

(C) Tuff motor oil’s share of the engine oil market peaked three years ago.

(D) Tuff motor oil, like any motor oil, is thicker and flows less freely at cold temperatures than at hot temperatures.

(E) Tuff motor oil is manufactured at only one refinery and shipped from there to all markets.

Motor Oil

Step 1: Identify the Question

The word strengthens indicates that this is a   Strengthen the Argument   question.

Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument

Any oil ok norm temp

Tuff better flow cold

Step 3: Pause and State the Goal

On Strengthen questions, the correct answer should make the conclusion at least somewhat more likely to be valid. The argument provides information about Tuff in engines at normal and low temperatures. Is any additional information needed to establish that Tuff provides maximum protection?

Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right

(A) CORRECT . The original argument provides no information about the performance of Tuff in hotter than normal engine conditions. Learning that Tuff provides above-average protection when engines overheat strengthens the argument that it provides maximum protection.

(B) The decision to supply Tuff to auto manufacturers does not provide any information about the engine protection provided by Tuff.

(C) There are many reasons Tuff’s market share could have declined; this fact does not provide any direct information about Tuff’s ability to protect engines.

(D) This answer actually suggests that Tuff may be similar to other motor oils;   it does not offer any additional information suggesting Tuff is superior  .

(E) The fact that Tuff is manufactured in only one plant does not offer any information relating to Tuff’s ability to protect engines.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Accepted Answer

55. Advertisement: When your car's engine is running at its normal operating temperature, any major brand of motor oil will protect it about as well as Tuff does. When the engine is cold, it is a different story: Tuff motor oil flows better at lower temperatures than its major competitors do. So, if you want your car's engine to have maximum protection, you should use Tuff.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument in the advertisement?

(A) Tuff motor oil provides above-average protection for engines that happen to overheat.

(B) Tuff motor oil is periodically supplied free of charge to automobile manufacturers to use in factory-new cars.

(C) Tuff motor oil's share of the engine oil market peaked three years ago.

(D) Tuff motor oil, like any motor oil, is thicker and flows less freely at cold temperatures than at hot temperatures.

(E) Tuff motor oil is manufactured at only one refinery and shipped from there to all markets.

IMPORTANT   : The original poster reversed options A and C as they appear in the 2016 GMAT Official Guide.

Type:   Strengthen
  Boil It Down:   Normal temp, Tuff =, at low, Tuff better, so better overall
  Missing Information:   There are no factors that could make Tuff less effective than maximum
  Goal:    Find the option that rules out factors that could jeopardize maximum protection claim 
  Analysis:   The question appears to make a decent case that Tuff provides maximum protection if it’s as good as the others at normal temp, but better at lower temp. However, the fact that we’re asked to strengthen particular highlights the fact that there are some gaps, and we need to shore up those gaps. One big one is what happens at high temperatures? What if Tuff provides relatively poor protection at high temperatures? Then 'the maximum protection' claim would be hard to sustain.

A)    Yes, here we go. This option shows that Tuff is also capable at high temperatures, and that’s exactly what was missing, therefore this option strengthens the argument by plugging that gap.

B)   This option might make Tuff motor oil more enticing, but in no way does some sort of discount strengthen the argument that Tuff provides maximum protection. Gone.

C)   If sales are down that wouldn’t strengthen the argument about the maximum engine protection. This option might attempt to even weaken by suggesting that something might be wrong with the oil if sales peaked three years ago, but of course sales and brand perception also has absolutely nothing to do with the argument about maximum engine protection, and even if it did, this option would weaken, so double trouble for C.

D)   This option leaves us scratching our heads because it’s unclear how the free flow of oil relates to engine protection. We’d have to bring in outside knowledge and make unsupported assumptions about Engine oil behavior to even begin to guess at how option D relates to the argument.

E)   This option seems to make the impression that Tuff motor oil might be scarce, but again this is an option that just doesn’t address the quality of engine protection whatsoever. The oil could be scarce or be readily available and still have limited engine protection.

kplusprinja1988 · Answer

Let me know if my explanation is correct

LogicGuru1 · Answer

The Correct answer is A 
 
 Premise 1) At normal engine temperature, all oil are the same
  Premise 2) Tuff works better in low temperature then competitors 
 Conclusion :- Use TUFF, it gives maximum protection.
 
 GAP :- Ok, we know at LOW TEMP tuff is best, We also know at NORMAL TEMP TUFF is as good as others. BUT WHAT ABOUT HIGH TEMP.. If tuff is not good at HIGH TEMP, then the claim will become false and the argument will become weak and uncogent. We must prove that TUFF works better than competitors at HIGH TEMP also. THEN ONLY ITS CLAIM OF MAXIMUM PROTECTION WILL BE FULFILLED.

What options proves that TUFF works better in HIGH TEMP
(A) Tuff motor oil provides above-average protection to engines that happen to overheat. (meaning TUFF perform better than the median performance of all the other engine oils )

anox · Answer

Advertisement: When your car's engine is running at its normal operating temperature, any major brand of motor oil will protect it about as well as Tuff does. When the engine is cold, it is a different story: Tuff motor oil flows better at lower temperatures than its major competitors do. So, it you want your cars engine to have maximum protection, you should use Tuff.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument in the advertisement?

Analysis:
 1. This is a strengthen argument and the facts presented in the premise given are to be taken as true.
2. From the argument, we know that the oil protects engine at normal operating temperature and lower temperatures.
 
 (A)  Tuff motor oil provides above-average protection tor engines that happen to overheat.
 -   This options fills a gap in the argument i.e. to maximize protection one should consider effectiveness of the oil at other temperature ranges since the argument only talks about two. What if oil is not good for engines at above-average temperatures? Then it won't provide maximum protection and people are better off using other oils. However, with the addition of this this fact to the argument, we can now say that Tuff motor oil protects engine at any temperature. Hence, providing maximum protection

(B)  Tuff motor oil is periodically supplied free of charge to automobile manufacturers to use in factory new cars.
 -   The supply and cost of the oil does not relate to it's effectiveness in maximizing engine protection.

(C)  Tuff motor oil's share of the engine oil market peaked three years ago.
 -   Company's market share does not relate to it's effectiveness in maximizing engine protection.

(D)  Tuff motor oil. like any motor oil, is thicker and ﬂows less freely at cold temperatures than at hot temperatures
 -   This directly refutes the fact provided as true in the argument

(E)  Tuff motor oil is manufactured at only one refinery and shipped from there to all markets.
 -   Again this fact does not relate to it's effectiveness in maximizing engine protection.

Answer:    (A)

umabharatigudipalli · Answer

It is a sure A!
Before going to the options, it is very important to know the main conclusion of the argument in strengthening questions.
Conclusion: So, if you want your car’s engine to have maximum protection, you should use Tuff. (Use a why test to know why is this the conclusion)
So any option that supports this conclusion is our answer.

(A) Tuff motor oil provides above-average protection for engines that happen to overheat. - yes, it is supporting the conclusion and says Tuff must be used, so hold this. 
(B) Tuff motor oil is periodically supplied free of charge to automobile manufacturers to use in factory-new cars. - what does it matter if it is supplied free of charge? irrelevant. 
(C) Tuff motor oil’s share of the engine oil market peaked three years ago. - why do we need this? It doesn't give the exact reason why Tuff must be used. 
(D) Tuff motor oil, like any motor oil, is thicker and flows less freely at cold temperatures than at hot temperatures. -  trap answer and quite tempting one. Remember, this is CR and we need to read the answer twice before marking. It says the oil is thicker and flows less freely(against the conclusion and the passage). Also, note that " Tuff motor oil flows better at lower temperatures than its major competitors do" was already mentioned in the passage. So strike it off :D 
(E) Tuff motor oil is manufactured at only one refinery and shipped from there to all markets. - We don't need this.

Hope that helps!!

Thanks,
Uma

CEdward · Answer

Advertisement: When your car’s engine is running at its normal operating temperature, any major brand of motor oil will protect it about as well as Tuff does. When the engine is cold, it is a different story: Tuff motor oil flows better at lower temperatures than its major competitors do. So, if you want your car’s engine to have maximum protection, you should use Tuff.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument in the advertisement?

(A) Tuff motor oil provides above-average protection for engines that happen to overheat.
Correct…the conclusion is that Tuff would provide maximum protection…the passage only considered lower temperatures and normal temperatures. Now we have the full spectrum of temperatures with this choice.

(B) Tuff motor oil is periodically supplied free of charge to automobile manufacturers to use in factory-new cars.
-irrelevant…could potentially even weaken…”free” could be associated with low quality

(C) Tuff motor oil’s share of the engine oil market peaked three years ago.
-irrelevant…interesting though that they’ve capped out on market share…could there be better options? Is Tuff not as great as the advertisers think? Do they have the majority of the market share? Hard to say what this choice is meant to convey.

(D) Tuff motor oil, like any motor oil, is thicker and flows less freely at cold temperatures than at hot temperatures.
-contradicts a premise…OUT

(E) Tuff motor oil is manufactured at only one refinery and shipped from there to all markets.
-irrelevant

JDLaw · Answer

Simply put, Only one option actually strengthens the conclusion of the advertisement, "if you want your car’s engine to have maximum protection, you should use Tuff."
Rest all the options are either out of scope or don't really strengthen the claim.
Hence, (A) Tuff motor oil provides above-average protection for engines that happen to overheat.
You would choose turf for maximum protection as it in fact does provide better protection even at a higher temperature.

JDLaw · Answer

Simply put, Only one option actually strengthens the conclusion of the advertisement, "if you want your car’s engine to have maximum protection, you should use Tuff."
Rest all the options are either out of scope or don't really strengthen the claim.
Hence, (A) Tuff motor oil provides above-average protection for engines that happen to overheat.
You would choose turf for maximum protection as it in fact does provide better protection even at a higher temperature.

HimaInala · Answer

Could you please explain how answer A fills the gap in the given information.
Also, Could you please explain why D is wrong?

GMATNinja · Answer

This question asks for the answer choice that "most strengthens the argument in the advertisement." Notice that it doesn't ask for something that fills a "gap" in the argument.

It's true that  some  arguments can be strengthened by filling a "gap" in the reasoning. But that's not the  only  way to strengthen an argument. For this particular question, we are simply looking for something that strengthens the argument in any way.

Looking at the passage, we see the author concludes that "if you want your car’s engine to have maximum protection, you should use Tuff." To support this conclusion, the author cites the following pieces of information:

Tuff motor oil will protect an engine at normal operating temperature as well as any major brand of motor oil  
 Tuff motor oil flows better at lower temperatures than its major competitors do

As your question implies, it's hard not to notice a gap in this argument. Just because Tuff motor oil flows better at lower temperatures, why should it offer better protection? It's okay to notice this gap, but we don't want to  assume  that the right answer will fill this gap. We are simply looking for something that  strengthens  the argument, and there could be other ways to strengthen this one.

Let's now consider (D):

The correct answer should strengthen the conclusion that Tuff motor oil will provide maximum protection. But (D) doesn't give us any reason to think that Tuff will offer better protection than other motor oils. Like any motor oil, Tuff is "thicker and flows less freely" at cold temperatures. But this new information doesn't strengthen the idea that Tuff offers better protection than other motor oils, so (D) is incorrect.

Let's examine (A):

The argument already suggests that Tuff works better than other motor oils at low temperatures, and that it works just as well at normal operating temperatures. But what about high temperatures?

Well, (A) tells us that Tuff provides "above-average protection for engines that happen to overheat." This new information gives us another reason to believe that Tuff provides better protection than other motor oils. In addition to being better at cold temperatures and just as good at normal temperatures, it's "above average" when engines overheat.

So because it gives us another reason to think that Tuff will provide "maximum protection," (A) strengthens the argument, and it's correct.

I hope that helps!

harithelion · Answer

But assuming that the facts given about tuff being better at lower temperature, option D offers us evidence as to how it does even better when the engine is overheated. So its performance is even better at hotter temperatures. What am i missing here?

sulimanov · Answer

I was very confused by this question because of the way it is phrased - "argument in the advertisement" which I interpreted as "flowing better at low temps". And what they call an "argument" is actually a conclusion, i.e. "buy Tuffs". The question should sound as follows: "Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the conclusion in the advertisement?". Argument is something that provides evidence as a reference.

PReciSioN · Answer

You're missing

1) Just because like other oils, Tuff's flow increases with temperature does not mean that the "increase of flow per unit temperature" would be the same. Also notice that at normal temperatures the protection (flow?) is the same. 
2) Also flowing better might not even guarantee better protection. Maybe at cold temperatures, flowing well is an issue and oils that flow well offer good protection and hotter temperatures something else plays a bigger role.

GMATNinja · Answer

Exactly right, PReciSioN ! Sorry we missed your question earlier, harithelion . At best, choice (D) suggests that Tuff's flows really well at higher temperatures -- but that's not necessarily true. Perhaps Tuff's oil suffers some adverse effect at higher temperatures; for example, maybe Tuff's oil has an additive that allows it to flow better at colder temps, but at higher temps that additive starts to break down and it does funky things to the oil. And you're spot on with your second point -- there might be other factors besides flow rate that affect protection at higher temperatures. Without additional information, we can't tell whether (D) is a strengthener. Choice (A), on the other hand, is definitely a strengthener, so that's our winner. For more on (A) vs. (D), check out this post: https://gmatclub.com/forum/advertisemen ... l#p3019493.

Anandanwar · Answer

Hello,

I have a query.
This is how I looked at the argument:
1. At normal temp: argument says : " any major brand of motor oil will protect it about as well as Tuff does."
 This means that no oil will be offer much less protection. It will offer near about what Tuff provides/ may be more.
2. For cold temp: argument says: "Tuff motor oil flows better at lower temperatures than its major competitors do"
 This just gives us detail about how Tuff oil flows. Now does that contribute to giving max protection? We dont know.
 A connection between oil flow anf protection seemed like the major gap in the argument.

Conclusion is that Tuff will provide max protection: Thats kind of extreme. So we need to fill in how.
Choice A says "above average". Does not fill the gap to providing max protection. 
I could not really vote in favor of A.

Looking at other choices:
E says the oil is manufactured at one refinery. Meaning the characteristics of the oil have high chance of staying the same.
But still it is not that big a strengthener.

I cant really vote for any answer choice.
If I go by the scope:
About choice A: I can say that its one part of temp that is not covered by the argument. And anyways it gives just an above average rating. 
So out of scope.

About Choice E: Number of refineries seem out of scope, since may be there can be quality checks, etc.

All in all cannot pick any choice.

Could you explain where I am going wrong.

Regards,
Ankit

egmat · Answer

Anandanwar  Looking at your analysis, you've done excellent detective work identifying the argument's structure and the potential gap. Let me help you see where your thinking needs a small adjustment.

Your analysis is spot-on about the temperature conditions  - you correctly noted that at normal temps all oils are equal, and at cold temps Tuff flows better (though the protection link isn't explicit). This shows strong critical reasoning skills!

Here's where to refine your approach:  You're looking for something that  proves  "maximum protection" - but strengthen questions don't require proof. They just need to make the conclusion  more likely  to be true. Think of it as moving the needle toward the conclusion, not reaching 100% certainty.

The Temperature Spectrum Framework  The argument covers:
 
  Normal temps : All oils equal ✓ 
  Cold temps : Tuff better ✓ 
  What's missing? : Hot/overheating temps

Now look at choice  A : It says Tuff provides "above-average protection for engines that overheat."

Why This Strengthens:  If Tuff is:
 
 Equal at normal temps 
 Better at cold temps 
 Better at overheating temps (from choice A)

Then across  all possible temperature conditions , Tuff either matches or exceeds competitors. This makes "maximum protection" more plausible because Tuff has no temperature weakness.
 
About Your "Above-Average" vs "Maximum" Concern:  You're being too literal. If Tuff is above-average when overheating, equal at normal temps, and better when cold, then  overall  it provides the best total protection package. No other oil beats it at any temperature - that supports "maximum protection" even if it's not explicitly stated.
 
 Strategic Framework for CR Strengthen Questions:

When you see "Which strengthens?", ask yourself: 
 What gap or assumption exists in the argument? 
 Which answer choice makes the conclusion more likely (not certain)?  
 
 Does the choice address a missing piece of the argument's scope?

Pattern Recognition:  When arguments make comparisons across multiple conditions, strengtheners often complete the comparison by addressing unmentioned conditions.

If you'd like, you can practice similar Critical Reasoning strengthen/weaken questions  here  (these are official questions) - select Critical Reasoning under Verbal and choose "Strengthen." You can practice on medium-level questions already based on your strong analytical foundation. For each question's explanation, you'll get the exact framework to approach them.

GMATNinja · Answer

Hi Ankit, good question! If the question were something like, "Which of the following is an assumption the advertisement's argument requires ?", then you would definitely have a point. You're right to say that none of the answer choices fill that specific gap in the logic. And an answer choice that filled that gap would certainly strengthen the argument. But the question is not asking us to make the logic airtight. All we need is something that strengthens the argument in some way, and (A) does that. For more on that, please review this post from earlier in the thread: https://gmatclub.com/forum/advertisemen ... l#p3019493.

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