Many companies now have employee assistance programs that enable emplo

Question

Many companies now have employee assistance programs that enable employees, free of charge, to improve their physical fitness, reduce stress, and learn ways to stop smoking. These programs increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee health care. Therefore, these programs benefit the company as well as the employee.

Which of the following, if true, most significantly strengthens the conclusion above?

(A) Physical fitness programs are often the most popular services offered to employees.
(B) Studies have shown that training in stress management is not effective for many people.
(C) Regular exercise reduces people’s risk of heart disease and provides them with increased energy.
(D) Physical injuries sometimes result from entering a strenuous physical fitness program too quickly.
(E) Employee assistance programs require companies to hire people to supervise the various programs offered.

I got A and C left among other choices. But C is quite normal choice, at least in my opinion. NOrmally right but I couldn't find any remark on "regular exercise" from the question statement. Rather, in A, if the program is the most popular ones for employees, then, the conclusion ("therefore, these programs benefit the company as well as the employee") should be strengthened. How do you guys think???

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

Ok, let's take a look at the passage before we dive into the answer choices.

The conclusion in this passage is that the employee assistance programs

benefit the company  as well as  the employee.

The evidence provided is that while the programs benefit the employee in various ways, they also  "increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee health care."

This question asks us to find the answer choice that most strengthens the conclusion above. While you've asked if there's a better explanation besides POE, the explanation will be more clear if we can be sure why the other answers are  not  correct -- so let's take a look at each answer choice in turn.

We're interested in whether these programs provide a significant benefit to the companies that provide them as well as to the employees. We are not interested in which is the most popular service offered to employees.

(A) does not help strengthen the conclusion, so we can rule (A) out.

This doesn't help us strengthen the conclusion that these programs provide benefits for both the employees and the companies. All (B) tells us is that one of the programs is not effective for many people.

Giving us a downside of one particular program does not strengthen the conclusion -- (B) is out.

The program discussed in (C) clearly provides some benefits to the employee that takes part in that program -- they have more energy and a reduced risk of heart disease.

Any company employing this person will also benefit from their increased energy while they are working. The company is also less likely to have to manage a scenario in which the employee cannot work because they suffer from heart disease. This program clearly provides benefits to both the employee and the company.

(C) is looking good for now. Let's keep it while we examine (D) and (E).

This provides one potential negative of undertaking one of the programs mentioned in the passage. There is nothing in (D) that could be described as a benefit to the employee or to the company.

(D) does not provide anything that could strengthen the conclusion -- (D) is out.

(E) tells us that the companies will have to employ extra people to provide these programs for their employees. This is a cost to the company, rather than a benefit.

This weakens the conclusion, rather than strengthening it. We can rule (E) out.

We're left with (C) as the only answer left standing -- (C) is the answer to this question.

I hope that helps!

nikhiljain05 · Answer

"B" and "D" weaken the arconclusion 
"A" and "E" does not tell anything about the conclusion 
"C" is the answer IMO

grepro · Answer

But how does C benefits the company as the conclusion says.

Is the OA A?

spriya · Answer

IMO C
Strengthen means proicide support to premise or assumption to reach the concl :
A->physical fitness service being often offered does not strengthen that they are helpful to employee and employer !!!No comments about increased productivity and reduced absenteesm etc!!Just saying this service is a big hit or often used does not explain why its good Eliminate

C is just better in the given scenario !!!it just strengthens the premise that physical health of emloyees is improved by regular exercise !!!But yes no where in the argument regular exercise is mentioned !!But among given FIVE optins this is the best

HTH

vivesomnium · Answer

C, not a perfect answer,is the better of the other worst options.
A talks of popularity of the program. We have to strengthen the conclusion that the program is beneficial for both employees and the company. Even if you assume that the program being popular means it is beneficial to the employees, there is no mention here of how the popularity of the program makes it beneificial to the employer. Hence eliminated.

B and C actually highlight the negatives of the program- one says the program is not effective, and the second says that it may lead to physical injuried. both deny/negate/dilute the benefots to both employees and employers. Hence straight eliminater.

E is actually unrelated. Hiring more people - is it beneficial to employer or employees? we dont know- no direct correlation. Thue eliminated

C says that regular exercise decreases risk of heart attack- beneficial to employees- and increases energy- can be assumed that this extra energy is used at work and leads to better results- thus beneficial to employer. As for regularity of exercise, nowhere does the question statement talks of programs beig regular or not, it just says that programs help improve fitness etc. So we need not go into how the program does it.

Therefore, I think C with the minor assumption (extra energy = extra work) is the best option we can take out of the available ones.

ctkrishnan · Answer

The stimulus talks about the benefits of employee assistance program which includes increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee health care and concludes  stating that this is beneficial for both the company and the employees.

Keeping this mind, if you look at the options,

Option A is very generic and it simply informs that Physical fitness programs are popular services given to employees. This option does not talk about the program relating to the benefits which is the conclusion of the stimulus.

If you take option C, it talks about the health benefits which in turn is good for the employee and the company. If the employee is healthy (read it as reduction in risk of heart attack), then it helps in increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee health care. Hence the conclusion.

vnigam21 · Answer

Many companies now have  employee assistance programs  that enable employees, free of charge, to improve their physical fitness, reduce stress, and learn ways to stop smoking. These programs increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee health care. Therefore,  these programs benefit the company as well as the employee.
 
Which of the following, if true, most significantly strengthens the conclusion above?

(A) Physical fitness programs are often the most popular services offered to employees. 
 Knowing which programs are  popular does not bear on what benefits the programs confer,  so choice A is incorrect. 
 
 (B) Studies have shown that training in stress management is not effective for many people. 
 Options B and D indicate ways in which the  programs can fail to provide the intended results , so neither of these is the correct answer. It weakens.

(C) Regular exercise reduces people’s risk of heart disease and provides them with increased energy. 
Only this option is left, all the other 4 options are eliminated;
 The conclusion is that the programs benefit both companies and employees. For companies, reducing employees’ risk of heart disease is likely to reduce insurance costs, and increasing employee energy is likely to increase worker productivity. For employees, the benefits of having a reduced risk of heart disease and of having increased energy are self-evident. Choice C is the best answer.

(D) Physical injuries sometimes result from entering a strenuous physical fitness program too quickly. 
 Options B and D indicate  ways in which the programs can fail to provide the intended results , so neither of these is the correct answer. it weakens.

(E) Employee assistance programs require companies to hire people to supervise the various programs offered. 
  Having to hire additional personnel does not benefit a company, so choice E is not correct.

gupta335 · Answer

The question already mentions ways in which the company is benfitted-increase in productivity, less absentisim, etc. And the answer choice C tells us about the benefits that the emloyees receive- lesser risk of heart disease and increased energy.

Suneha123 · Answer

I think C is the best option out of all but not perfect since the argument only stats about the assistance program but nothing about the regular exercise. It might happen that the program included number of physical activities but not specifically exercises. I think "fitness activities" would have been a better phrase in place of "Regular exercise"

mayankdata12 · Answer

the question is about most significant ......after looking for other options C is the best choice

amit2100 · Answer

GMATNinja 
 GMATNinja Two

Could you give a better explanation for selecting option C beside POE?

Thanks
Cheers

Sahil9891 · Answer

not clear as heart disease is not given in the passage. Isn't???

mSKR · Answer

Many companies now have employee assistance programs that enable employees, free of charge, to improve their physical fitness, reduce stress, and learn ways to stop smoking. These programs increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee health care. Therefore,  these programs benefit t he company as well as  the employee .

Which of the following, if true, most significantly strengthens the conclusion above?

(C) Regular exercise reduces  people’s risk of heart disease  and  provides them with increased energy.

You need to look for an option that shows the benefit. --> reduce risk of heart disease and increased energy are clearly benefits . Don't you think so?

Secondly, If you didn't choose C then which option was your selection? You can find that C is most close option that strengthens these programs.

I hope it is clear:)

havehope · Answer

How do we approach this question through Pre-Thinking? And not POE..

Option C- while it highlights the benefit (reduced risk of heart disease) it mentions "people". However, the conclusion is about EMPLOYEES and employee assistance programs. People is way more broader audience while the q. specifically mentions employees. Please can you provide an explanation  KarishmaB ? :)

Thanks in advance.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

I personally don't recommend pre-thinking because I find it to be a waste of time, but in any case, pre-thinking is a way to think about a question. It's not a great way to arrive at the correct answer since there are many possible answers to a question. So, the correct answer to a question may be quite different from anything you'd come up with by pre-thinking.

In fact, in the case of this question, you wouldn't likely pre-think the credited choice (C), because (C) is not a very good answer to this question. (C) basically just explains why, as the passage says, "These programs increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lessen insurance costs for employee health care." After all, an employee that has a reduced "risk of heart disease" and "increased energy" will likely be more productive and have reduced health care costs. Normally, a choice that explains a premise is not considered a strengthener.

So, really, the only reliable way to get this question correct is via process of elimination of all choices other than (C).

Regarding "people" versus "employees," since employees are people, and since there's no reason to believe that employees are significantly different from other people, what (C) says about "people" can be presumed to apply to "employees."

Maan1997 · Answer

Hi GMAT Ninja, In the option (A) if the physical fitness programs are the most popular service offered to employees, then this implies that it is the mostly used service. And in the passage it is given as a fact that physical fitness is one of the employee assistance program which helps increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and lessen insurance cost for employee health care. Thus, doesn't it automatically strengthens the conclusion.

GMATNinja · Answer

Good question! You're right that fitness programs aren't terribly useful if no one uses them, so I think it makes sense to hold on to (A) on your first pass through the answer choices.

But consider the relationship between a program's popularity and any benefits it might provide. If there were, say, a cheesecake-eating program, I bet it would prove quite popular, but probably wouldn't confer a ton of health benefits. (Unless you consider mental health; you get the idea, though.)

So (A) doesn't really address the benefit side of the equation. Contrast that with (C), which very explicitly offers one benefit to employees, (no heart disease!) and one to the employer (energetic employees!).

Put another way, you're not wrong to be tempted by (A). Your logic is sound. But there's a better answer choice that more directly impacts the conclusion, so (C) gets the win.

I hope that helps!

Maan1997 · Answer

Thanks GMAT Ninja for the explanation. I am clear about the part that option (A) doesn't tell us about the benefits (physical fitness program might be popular yet not being beneficial, moreover what if they are so much popular that employees using them start caring less about the work and enjoying program more eventually leading to less work productivity, thus not benefitting employer).
But, in option (C) can we say for sure that regular exercise is the consequence of these employee assistance programs (say particularly physical fitness). What if employee assistance programs were conducted once a week and not regularly. I cannot come up with clear understanding of this option and going back in the causation loop again and again.

GMATNinja · Answer

Remember that we're looking for the answer choice that "most significantly strengthens" the conclusion. That's a lower bar than having to PROVE that the conclusion will absolutely occur.

From the argument, we know that certain programs "enable employees   to improve their physical fitness." It is reasonable to assume that this involves some kind of ongoing exercise. (C) tells us that regular exercise increases energy, which would be beneficial to the employee and to the company.

So, does (C) absolutely PROVE that the conclusion must be true? No, I think you're right to notice the small gap in language. But it does strengthen the conclusion more than the other options, so (C) is our answer.

And another note on (A): what if, instead of the exercise programs, the stress reduction and anti-smoking programs were actually the most beneficial to the company? Then we'd want  those  to be the most popular in order to strengthen the conclusion. Because we don't know which program provides the most benefit, it doesn't help us to learn that exercise is more popular than stress reduction or smoking cessation. Just another nail in the coffin for (A). :)

I hope that helps!

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