Although most smoking-related illnesses are caused by inhaling the tar

Question

Although most smoking-related illnesses are caused by inhaling the tar in tobacco smoke, it is addiction to nicotine that prevents most smokers from quitting. In an effort to decrease the incidence of smoking-related illnesses, lawmakers in Sandonia plan to reduce the average quantity of nicotine per cigarette by half over the next five years. Unfortunately, smokers who are already addicted to nicotine tend to react to such reductions by smoking correspondingly more cigarettes.

The information above most strongly supports which of the following predictions about the effects of implementing the Sandonian government's plan?

A. The average quantity of tar inhaled by Sandonian smokers who are currently addicted to nicotine will probably not decrease during the next five years.

B. Sandonian smokers who are not already addicted to nicotine will probably also begin to smoke more cigarettes during the next five years than they had previously.

C. The annual number of Sandonian smokers developing smoking-related illnesses will probably decrease during the next five years.

D. The proportion of Sandonian's attempting to quit smoking who succeed in that attempt will probably decrease during the next five years.

E. The number of Sandonian's who quit smoking during the next five years will probably exceed the number who quit during the last five years.

JarvisR · Accepted Answer

Although most smoking-related   illnesses are caused by inhaling the tar in tobacco smoke, it is addiction to nicotine that prevents most smokers from quitting  . 
In an effort   to decrease the incidence of smoking-related illnesses,   lawmakers in Sandonia   plan to reduce the average quantity of nicotine per cigarette by half over the next five years .  
Unfortunately,   smokers   who are already addicted to nicotine tend to react to such reductions by   smoking correspondingly more cigarettes.

The information above most strongly supports which of the following predictions about the effects of implementing the Sandonian government’s plan? 
1:Need to find concusion.
2: Crux : Low nicotine has caused smokers to smoke more cigarettes. This mean more inhaling of tar.

A. The average quantity of tar inhaled by Sandonian smokers who are currently addicted to nicotine will probably not decrease during the next five years. 
 
B. Sandonian smokers who are not already addicted to nicotine will probably also begin to smoke more cigarettes during the next five years than they had previously.
>>No info reg this in arg.

C. The annual number of Sandonian smokers developing smoking-related illnesses will probably decrease during the next five years 
>>Opp of what we r looking for

D. The proportion of Sandonians attempting to quit smoking who succeed in that attempt will probably decrease during the next five years.
>> No info reg this.

E. The number of Sandonians who quit smoking during the next five years will probably exceed the number who quit during the last five years.
>>Same as D.

aditya8062 · Answer

it has to be A   : The average quantity of tar inhaled by Sandonian smokers who are currently addicted to nicotine will probably not decrease during the next five years.

itsmeabhi99 · Answer

Wish I get CRs like this one on my GMAT, due in a month ;-)

Abhishek009 · Answer

The key to solving this CR are the following 2 sentences -

In an effort to   decrease the incidence of smoking-related illnesses  , lawmakers in Sandonia plan to reduce the average quantity of nicotine per cigarette.
Smokers who are already addicted to nicotine tend to react to such reductions by   smoking correspondingly more cigarettes.

From these 2 sentences we can safely conclude that the desired intent of reducing the incidence of smoking related illness will not happen, as the smokers will try to take intake their daily requirement on Nictone by smoking more cigerettes.

So, among the given options only (A) works fine   Errors in the other otpions highlighted in red, above...

sasyaharry · Answer

A. The average quantity of tar inhaled by Sandonian smokers who are currently addicted to nicotine will probably not decrease during the next five years. -  It must be true since the reduction is mainly applied to the amount of nicotine

B. Sandonian smokers who are not already addicted to nicotine will probably also begin to smoke more cigarettes during the next five years than they had previously. -  We cannot be sure that more people will start smoking

C. The annual number of Sandonian smokers developing smoking-related illnesses will probably decrease during the next five years. -  We cannot be sure that the number of people with smoke related illness will decrease. If anything this is anti-premise

D. The proportion of Sandonian's attempting to quit smoking who succeed in that attempt will probably decrease during the next five years. -  Maybe, maybe not, hard to say

E. The number of Sandonian's who quit smoking during the next five years will probably exceed the number who quit during the last five years. -  Again, this goes against the premise that lowering nicotine might increase number of cigarettes smoked

Rickooreo · Answer

A. CORRECT.
Since people who are addicted to nicotine will smoke more cigarettes to balance out the lower nicotine content, 
selling cigarettes with less nicotine will not help them quit smoking. Thereby the amount of tar consumed by 
these people will not decrease as per the government's plan
Note: we cannot say that the tar consumption will increase. We know that the new cigarettes will have less 
nicotine. Will it correspondingly have reduced tar in its tobacco smoke? We don't know. All we know is that since 
the number of cigarettes being consumed is more than before, the amount of tar cannot be less for sure.

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.

Although most smoking-related illnesses are caused by inhaling the tar

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Although most smoking-related illnesses are caused by inhaling the tar

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards