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Difficulty:
95%
(hard)
Question Stats:
22% (02:11) correct
78%
(02:14)
wrong
based on 1460
sessions
History
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Result
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Historian: We can learn about the medical history of individuals through chemical analysis of their hair. It is likely, for example, that Isaac Newton's psychological problems were due to mercury poisoning; traces of mercury were found in his hair. Analysis is now being done on a lock of Beethoven's hair. Although no convincing argument has shown that Beethoven ever had a venereal disease, some people hypothesize that venereal disease caused his deafness. Since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven's time to treat venereal disease, if researchers find a trace of mercury in his hair, we can conclude that this hypothesis is correct.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the historian's argument depends?
(A) None of the mercury introduced into the body can be eliminated.
(B) Some people in Beethoven's time did not ingest mercury.
(C) Mercury is an effective treatment for venereal disease.
(D) Mercury poisoning can cause deafness in people with venereal disease.
(E) Beethoven suffered from psychological problems of the same severity as Newton's.
_________________
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the historian's argument depends?
(A) None of the mercury introduced into the body can be eliminated.
(B) Some people in Beethoven's time did not ingest mercury.
(C) Mercury is an effective treatment for venereal disease.
(D) Mercury poisoning can cause deafness in people with venereal disease.
(E) Beethoven suffered from psychological problems of the same severity as Newton's.
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Bunuel
Analysis is now being done on a lock of Beethoven's hair.
Mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven's time to treat venereal disease,
Hypothesis - Venereal disease caused Beethoven's deafness.
Conclusion: If researchers find a trace of mercury in his hair, we can conclude that this hypothesis is correct.
We need an assumption, a missing necessary premise for the argument.
Based on finding Mercury in his hair, we are concluding that VD caused B's deafness.
So it is an assumption that everyone doesn't have Mercury in hair, that Mercury in hair is a sign of ingesting Mercury for some specific purpose such as treating VD.
Think about it - what if everyone had Mercury in hair? Then can we conclude that VD caused B's deafness. No. Then presence of Mercury cannot be a sign of treating VD or anything else.
(A) None of the mercury introduced into the body can be eliminated.
Not necessary. All we are looking for are traces of Mercury. Some Mercury could have been eliminated.
(B) Some people in Beethoven's time did not ingest mercury.
Correct. We are assuming that at least some people do not ingest Mercury. So Mercury in body is not normal and not everyone ingests it.
(C) Mercury is an effective treatment for venereal disease.
We don't know whether it is effective or not. We don't need it to be effective. We just know that it was a treatment used in those days.
(D) Mercury poisoning can cause deafness in people with venereal disease.
Incorrect. Our argument talks about VD causing deafness. Mercury is used for treating VD. We do not NEED to assume that mercury can cause deafness. If we know that Mercury CANNOT cause deafness, that doesn't impact our conclusion.
(E) Beethoven suffered from psychological problems of the same severity as Newton's.
Irrelevant. No connection.
Answer (B)
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General Discussion
The hypothesis is that VD caused the deafness in Beethoven. Whether Beethoven suffered from VD can be corroborated if there is a proof that he did take mercury to cure VD. If his hair contained traces of mercury, then we can confirm that he took mercury. C is the only one that connects mercury with deafness via VD. All other choices talk about irrelevant thing such as his psychological problems, people other than Beethoven, elimination of mercury from the body and mercury as the cause of deafness rather than VD.
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Posts: 41
daagh
I believe D is the answer that links deafness with mercury. That said thanks for the work you put into the forum.
Chris,
Isn't the hypothesis about VD and deafness rather than mercury and deafness?
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Isn't the hypothesis about VD and deafness rather than mercury and deafness?
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Thank you Daagh for your time on GMAT Club and all your contributions! Thank you for everything you did!
Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club!
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daagh
You are correct I misread the conclusion.
rocky620
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daagh (C) Mercury is an effective treatment for venereal disease vs Mercury was the only known effective treatment for venereal disease vs Mercury was used only as a effective treatment for venereal disease.
I think the original is pretty confusing as he might have ingested mercury accidentally. If so it cannot be an assumption.
I am confused here, can you help?
I think the original is pretty confusing as he might have ingested mercury accidentally. If so it cannot be an assumption.
I am confused here, can you help?
Posts: 41
rocky620
I misread the problem initially but it made me look back on it. The only way the hypothesis can be correct is if VD caused deafness(I initially misread this). So even if he ingested mercury another way the hypothesis would be wrong. In order to strengthen the hypothesis, we need something that states any mercury found would be as a result of VD. So your theory actually acts as a strengthener for C.
rocky620
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chrisbender the official answer says its B, I also opted for D.
But I am still confused, could not understand.
The hypothesis says VD caused Deafness. Now if the researchers found mercury in his hair, according to the premise "Since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven's time to treat venereal disease," Option D is an assumption.
He must have used Mercury to treat VD, but that led to his deafness.
Also, Option C is a reworded statement of the above premise, and since an Assumption should present new information it cannot be the answer.
But I am still confused, could not understand.
The hypothesis says VD caused Deafness. Now if the researchers found mercury in his hair, according to the premise "Since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven's time to treat venereal disease," Option D is an assumption.
He must have used Mercury to treat VD, but that led to his deafness.
Also, Option C is a reworded statement of the above premise, and since an Assumption should present new information it cannot be the answer.
Bunuel
Assumption = must be true
(A) None of the mercury introduced into the body can be eliminated. WRONG. It can be true or false. So if true, mercury in Beet's hair will be. If false, in theory, mercury can stay in Beet's hair and logic of the passage will be valid.
(B) Some people in Beethoven's time did not ingest mercury. RIGHT. It must be true. Because if it isn't, then several variants can exist: 1. all people didn't ingest, 2. all people ingest, 3. 0 people ingest (same as '1'), 4. 0 people didn't ingest (same as '2') 5. some people ingest (it is the same as our variant 'B', so cross it out). So there are 2 variants, let's prove that these variants don't make sense.
1. All people didn't ingest. This statement can't be true because of evidence in passage "Since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven's time to treat venereal disease".
2. All people ingest. If this statement true, then either all people have VD or people ingest mercury for other reasons. The first point doesn't valid according to common sense. The second ruin the passage logic, coz if it true, then we can't conclude that this hypothesis is correct.
So, we just prove that only 'B' can co-exist with the passages' pieces of evidence and ''must be true'' in the logic of the passage.
(C) Mercury is an effective treatment for venereal disease. WRONG. It can be true or false. The deal isn't in an effective treatment, it's in what people THINK in there mind about the effectiveness of treatment. They can think that it's effective, but in fact, it is not. So 2 variant can exist. 1. Mercury is an effective treatment + People think that it is effective = they ingest mercury. 2. Mercury isn't an effective treatment + People think that it is effective = they ingest mercury.
So, logically, 'C' can be true or false and passage logic will be valid.
(D) Mercury poisoning can cause deafness in people with venereal disease. WRONG. It can be true or false. 1. TRUE: MP can cause deafness, passage logic is ok. 2. FALSE: VD itself can cause deafness, without MP. passage logic is ok.
(E) Beethoven suffered from psychological problems of the same severity as Newton's. WRONG. It can be true or false. There is no influence on the passage's logic.
ANSWER B
This is sneaky good question and amazing question! I have seen explanations here but nobody got it correct.
B is right. Why?
If everyone took mercury, how will you know that Beethoven ingested mercury to cure VD (note - ingest mercury to cure VD, not just ingest mercury)? Also, note the evidence - Since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven's time to treat venereal disease - just before the conclusion (which says that the hypothesis is correct).
Hypothesis is - VD caused Beethoven's deafness.
So, some people didn't ingest mercury - B - is the answer.
May be we need to draw couple of arrows here as the passage talks a lot of things (irrelevant) but we need to focus on conclusion.
B is right. Why?
If everyone took mercury, how will you know that Beethoven ingested mercury to cure VD (note - ingest mercury to cure VD, not just ingest mercury)? Also, note the evidence - Since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven's time to treat venereal disease - just before the conclusion (which says that the hypothesis is correct).
Hypothesis is - VD caused Beethoven's deafness.
So, some people didn't ingest mercury - B - is the answer.
May be we need to draw couple of arrows here as the passage talks a lot of things (irrelevant) but we need to focus on conclusion.
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Bunuel
Excellent question:
If everyone had mercury ingested, we won't be able to relate and confirm the hypothesis that the mercury was ingested by a particular person to treat the particular disease.
Option B is Correct
Hi! Sorry for resurrecting an old thread. This is my first ever response in this forum because I am THAT confused on why B is not incorrect!
If we negate B, the statement becomes "Everyone in Beethoven's time ingested mercury", which further implies that likely everyone had venereal disease.
However, the above statements do not conflict with Beethoven's having venereal disease too, just like everyone else, and consequentially got his deafness.
I am not sure how the negated version of B destroys the argument. Is it because if everyone ingested mercury, it means there is way more uses of mercury than for venereal disease? And that possibility breaks the connection of mercury and venereal disease?
If we negate B, the statement becomes "Everyone in Beethoven's time ingested mercury", which further implies that likely everyone had venereal disease.
However, the above statements do not conflict with Beethoven's having venereal disease too, just like everyone else, and consequentially got his deafness.
I am not sure how the negated version of B destroys the argument. Is it because if everyone ingested mercury, it means there is way more uses of mercury than for venereal disease? And that possibility breaks the connection of mercury and venereal disease?
KarishmaB
hi, but is this not weakning the argument aren't we supposed to choose one which says mercury caused it , please help me understand where I'm going wrong KarishmaB
KarishmaB
No, we are supposed to find the option that is an assumption for 'venereal disease caused his deafness'. For that the proof we are looking for is whether he has mercury in his hair because in those days treatment of venereal diseases involved ingesting mercury. So if we find mercury, it means he was likely treated for venereal disease which means he had venereal disease and that strengthens that his deafness was caused by venereal disease.
For that it must be true that some people did not ingest mercury in those days. Otherwise our "proof" is illogical. If everyone was tossing in mercury in breakfast in those days, everyone would have mercury in their hair, whether they had venereal disease or not. Hence finding mercury in hair would not make it more likely that the person had venereal disease.
_________________
For that it must be true that some people did not ingest mercury in those days. Otherwise our "proof" is illogical. If everyone was tossing in mercury in breakfast in those days, everyone would have mercury in their hair, whether they had venereal disease or not. Hence finding mercury in hair would not make it more likely that the person had venereal disease.
shubhim20
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Posts: 136
If everyone has mercury in their body then it maybe due to some other reason. So answer B
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