John: In several months of going to the Apex Health Club

HERE IS OE

(1) Identify the Question Type
The "weakens" and "if true" language indicate that this is a Weaken question. The word "EXCEPT" indicates that four answer choices will weaken the conclusion and the fifth answer (the "odd one out") will be the correct answer. This "odd one out" answer might strengthen the conclusion or it might not affect the conclusion at all, but it will not weaken the conclusion.

(2) Deconstruct the Argument
In his regular visits to Apex Health Club, which have occurred primarily or exclusively in the early-morning hours, John has observed that almost all members present use only the fat-burning aerobic exercise machines, and not the weight-training equipment to build muscle mass. Since the Blown company is best known for supplements aimed at people trying to build muscle mass, John concludes that placing advertisements just outside of Apex Health Club is not a good plan.

(3) State the Goal
To weaken John's argument, we need reasons why it would still make sense for Blown to advertise at the health club, despite John's observations. It would help to understand the assumptions in John's reasoning. He's assuming that those members he sees are representative of the general membership of the club at all hours. He's assuming that those who see the advertisements outside the club will be the same people he sees inside the club during early-morning hours. He's also assuming that the products advertised will be those for which Blown is "best known" (supplements for people who want to build muscle mass) and which do not seem to be of value to the members John is observing inside the club (people who want to burn fat).

Any answer choice that attacks one of these assumptions would weaken the argument.

(4) Work from Wrong to Right

(A) CORRECT. If higher-quality aerobic exercise machines are available elsewhere to most members, then one would expect to see a lower proportion of Apex members using aerobic equipment (and a correspondingly higher proportion using some other type of equipment, including weight-training equipment). If anything, then, this statement actually strengthens John's argument.

(B) John has made his observations early in the morning, when it is much less likely that many exercisers will have eaten a meal three to four hours beforehand (since most of them would have been sleeping). As a result, very few members of the club will be able to derive a benefit from weight training at that hour. If members are generally aware of these facts, then it is likely that the lack of members using the weight-training equipment stems from the time of day at which John made his observations, rather than from the overall demographics of the club's members. This choice has weakened John's assumption that the members he has observed are representative of all of the members and all activities at various other times of day.

(C) If this statement is true, then members of the club may be in a position to spread the word about Blown's products to potential customers, even if they are not interested in using the products themselves. In this case, Blown's advertising strategy might be effective, weakening John's conclusion.

(D) If this statement is true, then, while walking past the entrance to the health club, the customers of the store will be exposed to Blown's advertisements, thus enabling the company to promote its products to a group that is interested in building muscle mass.

(E) John assumes that Blown's advertisements will promote Blown's best-known products. If Blown is producing a new line of products aimed at aerobic exercisers, and the advertisements focus on those products, then the placement of the ads might be effective, weakening John's conclusion.