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16 Apr 2020, 04:12
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Difficulty:
95%
(hard)
Question Stats:
47% (02:10) correct
53%
(02:20)
wrong
based on 672
sessions
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Helen: It was wrong of my brother Mark to tell our mother that the reason he had missed her birthday party the evening before was that he had been in a traffic accident and that by the time he was released from the hospital emergency room the party was long over. Saying something that is false can never be other than morally wrong, and there had been no such accident—Mark had simply forgotten all about the party.
The justification Helen offers for her judgment of Mark’s behavior is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the justification
(A) ignores an important moral distinction between saying something that is false and failing to say something that one knows to be true
(B) confuses having identified one cause of a given effect with having eliminated the possibility of there being any other causes of that effect
(C) judges behavior that is outside an individual’s control according to moral standards that can properly be applied only to behavior that is within such control
(D) relies on an illegitimate appeal to pity to obscure the fact that the conclusion does not logically follow from the premises advanced
(E) attempts to justify a judgment about a particular case by citing a general principle that stands in far greater need of support than does the particular judgment
Twin Main Point/Conclusion question: https://gmatclub.com/forum/helen-it-was ... 21342.html
The justification Helen offers for her judgment of Mark’s behavior is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the justification
(A) ignores an important moral distinction between saying something that is false and failing to say something that one knows to be true
(B) confuses having identified one cause of a given effect with having eliminated the possibility of there being any other causes of that effect
(C) judges behavior that is outside an individual’s control according to moral standards that can properly be applied only to behavior that is within such control
(D) relies on an illegitimate appeal to pity to obscure the fact that the conclusion does not logically follow from the premises advanced
(E) attempts to justify a judgment about a particular case by citing a general principle that stands in far greater need of support than does the particular judgment
Twin Main Point/Conclusion question: https://gmatclub.com/forum/helen-it-was ... 21342.html
18 Apr 2020, 11:45
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a) This is an inapplicable criticism, because not only did Mark fail to tell the truth (that he had forgotten about the party), he also said something false (the entire story about the accident and hospital). Even if there is a distinction between the two, he did both!
b) This is irrelevant, as the argument does not rely on any cause-effect relationships
c) Mark was in control of his behaviour, and as such even if the moral standard could only be applied to behaviour that is within such control, it would still be valid.
d) This argument does not appeal to pity.
e) Yes, this argument relies heavily on the principle that saying something false can never be other than morally wrong. This principle is unsupported, and could be easily refuted -- what if you say something that you didn't know was false? Is that wrong?.
e) is the right answer
b) This is irrelevant, as the argument does not rely on any cause-effect relationships
c) Mark was in control of his behaviour, and as such even if the moral standard could only be applied to behaviour that is within such control, it would still be valid.
d) This argument does not appeal to pity.
e) Yes, this argument relies heavily on the principle that saying something false can never be other than morally wrong. This principle is unsupported, and could be easily refuted -- what if you say something that you didn't know was false? Is that wrong?.
e) is the right answer
General Discussion
Azakura16
Joined: 17 May 2024
Last visit: 12 Mar 2025
Posts: 59
Given Kudos: 5
Location: United States (AR)
Schools: Booth '27 (I) LBS '26 (S) Said '27 (D)
GMAT Focus 1: 805 Q90 V90 DI90 
GPA: 3.5
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27 Nov 2024, 13:04
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Quote:
A. It actually doesn’t ignore this distinction. He 100% lied about being in a car accident, which isn’t an omission of truth, but an objective deception.
B. I don’t see any cause and effect relationships mentioned, so this isn’t correct.
C. Helen judges Mark for lying about the accident, a behavior that’s within his control. This doesn’t apply.
D. The argument doesn’t rely on an appeal to pity, illegitimate or otherwise.
E. This is the best choice. Helen’s conclusion, that Mark was wrong to lie to their mom about being in a car accident instead of taking responsibility for forgetting about the party is supported by the premise: Saying something that is false can never be other than morally wrong. While I’m inclined to agree that Mark is in the wrong in this situation, using such a statement to support the argument is an excessive and unsubstantiated choice, and distracts from the quality of Helen’s point.
