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655-705 (Hard)|   Weaken|            
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dushyantkanal
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In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile ac 29 Sep 2022, 02:48
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Vicky
In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile accidents are typically more severe than in Europe, where laws require a different kind of safety belt. It is clear from this that the United States needs to adopt more stringent standards for safety belt design to protect automobile passengers better.

Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument above EXCEPT:


(A) Europeans are more likely to wear safety belts than are people in the United States.

(B) Unlike United States drivers, European drivers receive training in how best to react in the event of an accident to minimize injuries to themselves and to their passengers.

(C) Cars built for the European market tend to have more sturdy construction than do cars built for the United States market.

(D) Automobile passengers in the United States have a greater statistical chance of being involved in an accident than do passengers in Europe.

(E) States that have recently begun requiring the European safety belt have experienced no reduction in the average severity of injuries suffered by passengers in automobile accidents.

CR10661.01
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Best way to answer CR questions is to identify the conclusion and then go from there

Conclusion here is : United States needs to adopt more stringent standards for safety belt design to protect automobile passengers better

What the author is saying is that better safety belt design will protect automobile passengers in US better.

Now, the question asks us to find 4 weaken statements to this conclusion and eliminate them. The choice remaining choice will be the correct one.

A - Alternate reason to why the accidents are less severe in Europe, which is that europeans are more likely to wear seatbelts. - Eliminate

B- European drivers receive some specialized training that reduces the severity of accidents. Alternate reason - Eliminate

C - Cars in Europe are more sturdy. Alternate reasons - Eliminate

D - Americans have a greater chance of getting in an accident. - Can't understand how this weakens the conclusion. - Keep for now

E - Some states in the US have tried the European style of the safety belt but have seen no reduction in the average - Weakens the argument by telling us that the plan implemented for a small sample has not had the expected impact - Eliminate

Left with option, D, though I cannot understand it completely, must be the correct answer.
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In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile ac 23 Mar 2024, 09:38
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Hi GMATIntensive KarishmaB MartyMurray DmitryFarber
Quote:
It is clear from this that the United States needs to adopt more stringent standards for safety belt design to protect automobile passengers better
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I know that This arguement has gone further and made the Necessary conditional type of conclusion. For me, It mixes cause/effect and conditional at the same time. Can I made the remark in my tracker that when arguement gist is related to correlation causation then no matter how conclusion is made/drafted we just need to focus on that Correlation - causation thing and should check the impact of options from arguement reasoning's view and not just conclusion's ? or is there something else that I should know/follow?

Kindly can you help ?

Thanks !­
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In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile ac 24 Mar 2024, 00:25
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SnorLax_7

Quote:
It is clear from this that the United States needs to adopt more stringent standards for safety belt design to protect automobile passengers better
I know that This arguement has gone further and made the Necessary conditional type of conclusion. For me, It mixes cause/effect and conditional at the same time. Can I made the remark in my tracker that when arguement gist is related to correlation causation then no matter how conclusion is made/drafted we just need to focus on that Correlation - causation thing and should check the impact of options from arguement reasoning's view and not just conclusion's ? or is there something else that I should know/follow?

Kindly can you help ?

Thanks !­
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­It's often the case that, when a question involves an argument like this one, the correct answer will be more closely related to the correlation than to the final conclusoin. So, your strategy makes sense for the most part.

At the same time, I don't think it makes sense to go so far as to say that we should always just focus on the correlation/causation aspect of the argument in considering the answer choices. After all, a question could work in a different way, one such that the correct answer is somehow more closely related to the stated conclusion than to the correlation/causation aspect. So, in using your suggested approach, you'd be at risk of ignoring the correct answer.

In general, it's best not to assume anything about how the correct answer to a Critical Reasoning question will work. So, a safer approach in answering a question in which a correlation supports the conclusion would be to be cognizant of the fact that the correct answer may be closely related to the correlation and at the same time be ready for the correct answer to work in another way.­
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Hi MartyMurray, Thanks for the detailed explanation !

I tried to apply the approach you mentioned in this question and ended up with 2 answers here, Option D and Option E. Option D for obvious reason is not a weakener, but Option E is also not a weakener for me if I see this only from conclusion view.

In Necessary conditions, A (European Safety belt) doesn't imply B (Protection or safety), and same is mentioned in Option E, then how can option E be a weakener ?

at the same time, I know E is a valid weakener if I use that correlation - causation approach, thats why I thought to made the remark for this question.

Am I going wrong ? Kindly can you help ?

Thanks
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In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile ac 27 Mar 2024, 01:27
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Gustavoncf
The fact that Cars built for the European market tend to have more sturdy construction couldn't imply that their safety belts are better?

When i saw C, i thought that it could strenght the argument, bringing evidence that the safety belts could be one of the facts of the sturdiness
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­That was my exact thought as well.
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In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile ac 28 Mar 2024, 10:56
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acethegmat6969

Gustavoncf
The fact that Cars built for the European market tend to have more sturdy construction couldn't imply that their safety belts are better?

When i saw C, i thought that it could strenght the argument, bringing evidence that the safety belts could be one of the facts of the sturdiness
­That was my exact thought as well.
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­The thing is that "more sturdy construction" would apply to the entire car, not just to the seatbelt. Thus, this choice could still serve to call into question whether seatbelts are the key factor making the difference.

Also, possibly more importantly, "more sturdy construction" and "seat belt design" are two different things. The conclusion is basically about "kind of safety belt," rather than about sturdiness, which may not be affected by "more stringent standards for safety belt design" that are focused on the "kind" of belt.

So, even if this choice means that European belts are sturdier, it wouldn't really support the case for the conclusion and could still be seen as weakening the case for more stringent standards focused on the "kind" of belt.
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In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile ac 28 Mar 2024, 11:46
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SnorLax_7
Hi MartyMurray, Thanks for the detailed explanation !

I tried to apply the approach you mentioned in this question and ended up with 2 answers here, Option D and Option E. Option D for obvious reason is not a weakener, but Option E is also not a weakener for me if I see this only from conclusion view.

In Necessary conditions, A (European Safety belt) doesn't imply B (Protection or safety), and same is mentioned in Option E, then how can option E be a weakener ?

at the same time, I know E is a valid weakener if I use that correlation - causation approach, thats why I thought to made the remark for this question.

Am I going wrong ? Kindly can you help ?

Thanks
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­I think you're going wrong thinking that you need to view the choice in one way or another. There are different ways choices can work, and you don't have to choose among them. The move is just to consider how the choice may work and let what you see about the choice dictate how the choice works rather than looking for any particular characteristic to see whether it's present.
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Conclusion: Poor safety belt design leads to more server automobile accidents in US than in Europe.
Type: Weaken (Except)

(A) Europeans are more likely to wear safety belts than are people in the United States - This option provides an alternate cause, hence it's a weakener. Drop

(B) Unlike United States drivers, European drivers receive training in how best to react in the event of an accident to minimize injuries to themselves and to their passengers. This options also provides an alternate reason for the higher serverity of automobile accidents in the US. Drop

(C) Cars built for the European market tend to have more sturdy construction than do cars built for the United States market. The logical implication of the option being that sturdy constructions lead to better safety outcomes, i.e., less severe accidents. This does weaken the passage. Drop

(D) Automobile passengers in the United States have a greater statistical chance of being involved in an accident than do passengers in Europe. Easy pick. Make sure not to confuse the cause with fact presented. If you thought, wait a minute higher incidence of accident is the reason for higher severity, then that would be flawed thinking. It can always be the case that higher incidence of accidents could be of low impact or severity and hence is not a probable alternate cause. This information just tells us that more vehicles are colliding in the US than in Europe. That's all - No effect. Keep

(E) States that have recently begun requiring the European safety belt have experienced no reduction in the average severity of injuries suffered by passengers in automobile accidents. This shows that belts are not the reason for the accident severity. Therefore, weakens the conclusion. Drop
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(A) Europeans are more likely to wear safety belts than are people in the United States.
This option clearly gives an alternate reason for higher severity accidents in US compared to europe - not wearing seatbelts

(B) Unlike United States drivers, European drivers receive training in how best to react in the event of an accident to minimize injuries to themselves and to their passengers.
Same as A, another reason is provided

(C) Cars built for the European market tend to have more sturdy construction than do cars built for the United States market.
Same as A

(D) Automobile passengers in the United States have a greater statistical chance of being involved in an accident than do passengers in Europe.
The argument just talks about the severity of injuries among people who are already involved in accidents - it does not matter how or why the accidents occur. Hence, US having greater statistical chance of being involved in accident has nothing to do with why the severity of that accident is more.

(E) States that have recently begun requiring the European safety belt have experienced no reduction in the average severity of injuries suffered by passengers in automobile accidents.
This is clearly a weakener as switching to the European belts did not reduce the severity of injuries. Hence, it is likely that the cause was not the European seatbelts.


Vicky
In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile accidents are typically more severe than in Europe, where laws require a different kind of safety belt. It is clear from this that the United States needs to adopt more stringent standards for safety belt design to protect automobile passengers better.

Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument above EXCEPT:


(A) Europeans are more likely to wear safety belts than are people in the United States.

(B) Unlike United States drivers, European drivers receive training in how best to react in the event of an accident to minimize injuries to themselves and to their passengers.

(C) Cars built for the European market tend to have more sturdy construction than do cars built for the United States market.

(D) Automobile passengers in the United States have a greater statistical chance of being involved in an accident than do passengers in Europe.

(E) States that have recently begun requiring the European safety belt have experienced no reduction in the average severity of injuries suffered by passengers in automobile accidents.

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In the United States, injuries to passengers involved in automobile ac 23 Sep 2025, 23:59
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Let's tackle this tricky "weaken EXCEPT" question together. These questions can feel overwhelming because you need to juggle multiple answer choices while looking for the one that doesn't fit the pattern.

Understanding the Argument

First, let's break down what's happening here. The author observes that US car accident injuries are more severe than in Europe, where they use different safety belts. Then comes the conclusion: the US should adopt stricter safety belt standards.

Notice how the author jumps from correlation (Europe has different belts AND fewer injuries) straight to causation (the belts MUST be the reason). This is the classic flaw we need to keep in mind.

The EXCEPT Strategy

Since this is a "weaken EXCEPT" question, here's what you're looking for: four answer choices will provide alternative explanations for why European injuries are less severe, while one answer choice won't weaken the argument at all.

Finding the Right Answer

Let me show you the key insight with choice D:
"Automobile passengers in the United States have a greater statistical chance of being involved in an accident than do passengers in Europe."

Think about this carefully - the argument is about injury severity when accidents happen, not about how often accidents occur. If Americans have more accidents but we're talking about how bad injuries are per accident, then accident frequency doesn't provide an alternative explanation for the severity difference.

This is different from the other choices. For instance, if Europeans wear safety belts more often (choice A), that could explain lower severity without needing different belt designs. Same logic applies to better driver training (B) or sturdier cars (C).

Answer: D

---

You can check out the step-by-step solution on Neuron by e-GMAT to master the systematic approach for handling all "EXCEPT" questions. You'll learn how to quickly eliminate answer choices and avoid common traps. You can also explore other GMAT official questions with detailed solutions on Neuron for structured practice here.
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