In countries such as Denmark, which is relatively advanced and develop

Question

In countries such as Denmark, which is relatively advanced and developed, the rate of obesity is much higher than that in developing countries. Researchers hypothesize that, perhaps, this difference is due to the increased leisure time afforded to residents of developed countries.

The hypothesis of researchers depends on which of the following assumptions?

(A) Obesity is genetically transmitted malady.
(B) Access to accurate diagnostic procedures for obesity is equal for residents of developing and developed countries
(C) most activities characterized as "leisure time" in developed countries are inherently boring.
(D) Certain medication that effectively treats obesity are not readily available in developing countries
(E) Few residents of developing countries dedicate any of their time to leisure.

Gladiator59 · Answer

JasleenKahlon , this is a hypothesis or assumption type question - so the correct answer would be a strong proponent necessary to conclude what the argument states. Let's break down the argument - 1. In countries such as Denmark, which is relatively advanced and developed, the rate of obesity is much higher than that in developing countries. (Background) Developed country rate > developing country rate. 2. Researches hypothesize ( conjecture or state a belief) that this could be "this difference is due to the increased leisure time afforded to residents of developed countries". So the conclusion of the argument is this - Developed countries have a higher rate of obesity due to increased leisure time afforded to residents Now we need to proceed and try to find a gap in this jump from background to the conclusion - the thing that fills the gap will be our correct assumption! Looks at the options - (A) Obesity is genetically transmitted malady. Okay, this partially weakens the conclusion & does not explain why we would see more of it in developed vs. developing. Discard. (B) Access to accurate diagnostic procedures for obesity is equal for residents of developing and developed countries Looks good. If this were not true - it could mean that the rate is more only due to the fact that more cases are caught and reported. The developing countries on the other hand are in the dark about the actual number of cases of obesity. BINGO. (C) most activities characterized as "leisure time" in developed countries are inherently boring. Out of scope - remember our scope is to fill the gap related to "conclusion" mentioned above. (D) Certain medication that effectively treats obesity are not readily available in developing countries Again - reverse logic - this should help us weaken the conclusion & not strengthen it & hence it cannot be an assumption. (E) Few residents of developing countries dedicate any of their time to leisure. TRAP - this does seem to fit with the "leisure time spending" rhetoric but it still does not say how the two are related. The gap still exists between the conclusion & the premise/background. Not as strong a candidate as B Hope this helps.

anmit123 · Answer

B is the correct answer, because if accurate diagnostic procedures for obesity are not equal for residents of developing and developed countries, then developing countires may very well be underreporting the rate of obesity.

siddharthkapoor · Answer

B is correct because if access to accurate diagnostic procedures for obesity is not equal for residents of developing and developed countries, then developing countries may be under reporting the rate of obesity or developed countries may be over reporting the rate of obesity, meaning the conclusion that difference in rates of obesity is due to the availability of leisure time fails.

Pankaj0901 · Answer

An out of context question-
In option D:
(D) Certain medication that effectively treats obesity  are  not readily available in developing countries
As "medication" is singular, is the use of "are" correct? Should the correct verb here not be "is"? As, "treats" is also a singular verb that modifies "medication". Please correct me if I am missing something here. Thanks

RahulHGGmat · Answer

Please elaborate basis on which we have chosen B over E. And how a negation of B break the conclusion of the argument

ayushgmatclub1 · Answer

VeritasKarishma  if i negate B, don't i get two options? the access is higher for developed OR the access is higher for developing countries?
So in one case the negation works but in another it doesn't. Does this option still stand as a correct answer?

KarishmaB · Answer

What is a valid assumption for the argument? That the number of obesity cases are higher for developed countries not because of better access to accurate diagnostic procedures.

The argument zeroes in on the reason for higher number as "increased leisure time afforded to residents of developed countries."

The argument is giving the cause as increased leisure time. So it is assuming that the difference is not because of something else. Something else such as "better access to accurate diagnostic procedures."

Option (B) is just another way of putting "developed countries do not have better access to accurate diagnostic procedures"
You need to negate the option in the spirit of the argument.

kagrawal16 · Answer

IMO
The assumption is all else equal, increased leisure time is the cause.

(D) Certain medication that effectively treats obesity are not readily available in developing countries
Choice D, does help the argument but it is not an assumption.

How does it help the argument ?
If developing countries had a way to control obesity, then may be the rate of obesity in developed countries is not really high. It's just that the rate is low in developed countries and therefore increase leisure time is not the reason as the rate itself is not higher. Choice D suggests thats not the case.

But why choice D is incorrect is because there is no comparison stated in D.
How do I know if the medications are not readily available in developed countries too.

IMO for D to be correct the choice should be.
Certain medication that effectively treats obesity are not MORE readily available in developing countries THAN in developed countries.

Choice B correctly states the implied comparison by mentioning one of the variables to be equal for both developing and developed countries.

Pankaj0901 · Answer

DanTe02  - I have a question that is not relevant to finding the correct answer. could you please help me understand what I am missing here.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi Rahul

The negated form of option (B) reads:

Access to accurate diagnostic procedures for obesity is  not equal  for residents of developing and developed countries.

Logically, this would mean that developing countries have lesser access to accurate diagnostic procedures for obesity. This in turn could mean that obesity rates are higher in developed countries simply because they are diagnosed more extensively and not because of any differences in "leisure". This breaks the conclusion.

Option (E) states: Few residents of developing countries dedicate any of their time to leisure.

From a point of what it means for the conclusion, it is merely a restatement of the premise given in the passage ("...increased leisure time afforded to residents of developed countries"). Therefore this cannot be the underlying assumption for the conclusion.

Hope this helps.

Srini

VerbalBot · Answer

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In countries such as Denmark, which is relatively advanced and develop

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