Loneliness is commonly reported in elderly populations.

Question

Loneliness is commonly reported in elderly populations. A study of elderly people found that those who owned dogs reported feeling less lonely than those who did not own dogs. Clearly, an elderly person who adopts a pet will be less likely to suffer feelings of loneliness than an elderly person without a pet.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument above?

(A) Owning a pet has been linked to several health benefits, including lower blood pressure.

(B) Some people feel that cats do not engage socially with their owners as much as dogs do.

(C) The number of elderly people who own pets is projected to rise in the coming years.

(D) A large percentage of elderly dog owners report taking their dogs for walks and to dog parks.

(E) Pets other than dogs provide the same benefits of companionship as do dogs.

This is a  CR Butler Question

Check the links to other Butler Projects:

Data Sufficiency Butler  
  Problem Solving Butler  
  Reading Comprehension Butler  
  Data Insights Butler

findingmyself · Answer

Loneliness is commonly reported in elderly populations. A study of elderly people found that those who owned dogs reported feeling less lonely than those who did not own dogs. Clearly, an elderly person who adopts a pet will be less likely to suffer feelings of loneliness than an elderly person without a pet.

Premise: Elderly people who own a pet as Dog feel less lonely
Conclusion: Anyone who adopt a pet will not be feeling lonely

What we are looking for is something 
 
 which says that all other pets will be similar to dogs 
 Dogs and all other pets share same bonding with elderly people 
 The feelings/emotions one gets from dog is same as that from other pets

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument above?

(A) Owning a pet has been linked to several health benefits, including lower blood pressure.:
 Irrelevant: Low BP= Loneliness cure

(B) Some people feel that cats do not engage socially with their owners as much as dogs do.
 Irrelevant: We are talking about dogs here and not cats

(C) The number of elderly people who own pets is projected to rise in the coming years.
 Irrelevant: Good statistics to have, well nothing which will strengthen the conclusion that pets are equivalent to dogs

(D) A large percentage of elderly dog owners report taking their dogs for walks and to dog parks.
  Trap answer: THIS ONE IS STRENGTHENING the premise that why people who owns dogs might not be feeling lonelys since they do more social interactions at parts (hypothetical thought, though the sentance is not pointing in that direction)

(E) Pets other than dogs provide the same benefits of companionship as do dogs.
   Correct: All other pets=dog, thus all other pets=same benefits, thus all other pets will be able to reduce loneliness

okHedwig · Answer

I am confused in the answer choices. I am more bent towards D, is D the correct answer? Please help in clarification. Thanks

Pray2K · Answer

(A) Owning a pet has been linked to several health benefits, including lower blood pressure. - Irrelevant. Low BP and Loneliness not related in the argument.

(B) Some people feel that cats do not engage socially with their owners as much as dogs do. - Irrelevant. Nothing about cats specifically mentioned.

(C) The number of elderly people who own pets is projected to rise in the coming years. - Irrelevant. Not clearly linking such rise to reduction in loneliness.

(D) A large percentage of elderly dog owners report taking their dogs for walks and to dog parks. - Irrelevant. Again reduction in loneliness and talking the dogs for walk not connected.

(E) Pets other than dogs provide the same benefits of companionship as do dogs. -  CORRECT. The argument starts with a "dog" and then generalizes towards "pets" as a whole in the conclusion. Thereby this statement strengthens the conclusion by stating dogs and pets both provide the same companionship benefits.

catcun · Answer

@karishmab could you please clarify the answer for this one?

egmat · Answer

catcun  Here are my two cents to address this one:

Understanding the Argument Structure

Evidence:  Study shows elderly people with  dogs  → less lonely
 Conclusion:  Elderly person with  any pet  → less lonely

The Gap:  Are all pets like dogs when it comes to reducing loneliness?

Why (E) is Correct

Answer choice (E) directly bridges this gap by stating that "Pets other than dogs provide the same benefits of companionship as do dogs." This validates extending the dog-specific evidence to all pets.

Why Other Choices Don't Work

(A) Health benefits ≠ loneliness reduction - off topic 
 (B) Actually  weakens  by suggesting cats are less effective than dogs 
 (C) Future trends don't strengthen the causal relationship 
 (D) Explains  why  dogs work but doesn't extend to other pets

Strategic Framework - "Scope Shift Detection"

In strengthen/weaken questions, always check if the conclusion's scope matches the evidence's scope:
 
 Identify what group/category the evidence discusses 
 Identify what group/category the conclusion discusses 
 If different → look for an answer that bridges or breaks this connection

Common GMAT variations: "Study of X → conclusion about all," "Past data → future prediction," "One location → everywhere"

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPE 
The word “strengthen” indicates that you should read to identify the author’s conclusion and evidence, then think about what additional evidence would support the argument’s conclusion, making its central assumption more likely to be true.

STEP 2: UNTANGLE THE STIMULUS 
The conclusion is signaled by the key word “ learly” in the last sentence: an elderly person with a pet is less likely to be lonely than one without a pet. The evidence is a study that found less loneliness in elderly dog owners than in elderly non–dog owners.

STEP 3: PREDICT THE ANSWER 
Whenever an argument references a sample or a study, suspect a representativeness issue. The heart of representativeness is the assumption that a group mentioned in the evidence is representative of the group mentioned in the conclusion. In this argument, the author is assuming that the benefit conferred by dogs upon elderly owners— namely the easing of loneliness—is representative of the benefit conferred on elderly owners by pets of any kind. To strengthen the argument, look for the answer choice that supports this assumption.

STEP 4: EVALUATE THE CHOICES 
 (E) matches the prediction and is correct.  (A) is incorrect because the argument is only about whether owning a pet will help with loneliness; other benefits of owning pets are irrelevant. If (B) said that cats actually don’t engage socially with their owners as much as dogs, this choice would weaken the argument (not strengthen it) by providing evidence that not all pets are as good as dogs at alleviating loneliness. Since it talks only about how some people perceive cats, it has no effect on the argument; since it does not strengthen the argument, it can be eliminated. (C) is incorrect because ownership projections are irrelevant to the conclusion. Finally, (D) provides more evidence for the utility of dogs as companion animals and possible facilitators of companionship (one might conceivably meet other people while walking the dog or at the dog park), but it does not support the conclusion about the efficacy of pets in general.

Loneliness is commonly reported in elderly populations.

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Loneliness is commonly reported in elderly populations.

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards