Otoplasty (ear cosmetic surgery) can reshape prominent or protruding

Question

Otoplasty (ear cosmetic surgery) can reshape prominent or protruding ears. A plastic surgeon found that 76% of cosmetic ear surgery last year was performed on men. The plastic surgeon concluded that men's ears are, on average, more protruding and prominent than are women's ears.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the above conclusion?

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the above conclusion?

A. The most common cosmetic surgery among men last year was performed on areas around the nose.

B. Over 50,000 people underwent otoplasty last year.

C. The number of people who undergo cosmetic surgery increases dramatically each year.

D. Men and women are equally inclined to undergo cosmetic surgery to correct aesthetic flaws.

E. Men's noses are, on average, more protruding and prominent than are women's noses

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

mrinmoy338 · Answer

Any explanation how D is the correct answer?

RAAVAN2003 · Answer

Option A and E eliminated as they talk of noses not ears. While Option B is irrelevant to the conclusion. Option C tells us that the operations are increasing but does not support the conclusion. Thus the only option remaining is D.
Pls give kudos if helpful.

mrinmoy338 · Answer

"Men and women are equally inclined to undergo cosmetic surgery to correct aesthetic flaws.", but this does not strengthen the conclusion that "Men's ears are, on average, more protruding and prominent than are women's ears", rather weakens the conclusion, as both men and women are equally inclined towards cosmetic surgery. 
 Please help me understand how I'm getting this wrong?

KarthikRam6060 · Answer

D can be the right answer because only when men and women are equally inclined to undergo cosmetic surgery to correct their aesthetic flaws, then by performing the surgery on both, the plastic surgeon was able to conclude that men's ears are more protruding than women's. If there were no women, his conclusion will become weak.

shaliny · Answer

i request to experts to share their opinion regarding option D, please

bb · Answer

This is a strengthen question.

There are two ways to strengthen an argument:

1. You can strengthen down and stated assumption. This is the strongest way but the most obvious one
2. Or you can eliminate a potential concern or criticism. This strengthening can be very weak and that’s very subtle but nevertheless it is a strengthening.

In this case, case number two applies. Option D eliminates a potential weaken her which if we learned that men are more likely, we could argue that men’s ears are not protruding. Knowing that chances of getting a cosmetic surgery is equal for both men and women, slightly strengthens the argument and that is our goal.

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Otoplasty (ear cosmetic surgery) can reshape prominent or protruding ears. A plastic surgeon found that 76% of cosmetic ear surgery last year was performed on men. The plastic surgeon concluded that men's ears are, on average, more protruding and prominent than are women's ears.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the above conclusion?

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the above conclusion?

A. The most common cosmetic surgery among men last year was performed on areas around the nose.

Incorrect.

To solve this Conclusion Strengthening question, first break down the argument. The first two sentences are premises providing factual data. The last sentence uses the conclusion word concluded so it's the author's conclusion:

Premise A: otoplasty is used to fix protruding ears
 +
Premise B: 76% of the otoplasties done last year were on men
 =
Conclusion: men's ears protrude more than women's ears

Possible assumption: men and women both have the same approach to cosmetic surgery

Strengthening Data: ?

You are required to find data that strengthens the conclusion that men's ears are more protruding than women's ears, on average. The correct answer could be one that confirms the argument's assumption.

This answer choice neither weakens nor strengthens the conclusion. The premise gives us information about men. The conclusion draws a comparison between men and women. Therefore, an answer choice that merely gives us more information about men cannot help us support the conclusion.

B. Over 50,000 people underwent otoplasty last year.

Incorrect.

This answer choice neither weakens nor strengthens the conclusion. The premise gives us information about men. The conclusion draws a comparison between men and women. Therefore, an answer choice that gives us information about people in general, without gender specification, cannot help us support the conclusion.

C. The number of people who undergo cosmetic surgery increases dramatically each year.

Incorrect.

This answer choice neither weakens nor strengthens the conclusion. The premise gives us information about men. The conclusion draws a comparison between men and women. Therefore, an answer choice that gives us information about people in general, without gender specification, cannot help us support the conclusion.

D. Men and women are equally inclined to undergo cosmetic surgery to correct aesthetic flaws.

This answer choice confirms the argument's assumption by stating that women and men are equally likely to undergo cosmetic surgery. This means that the people who underwent that procedure reflect the true percentage of those who have the problem. Hence, men's ears are more protruding and prominent than women's are (76% men, 24% women).

E. Men's noses are, on average, more protruding and prominent than are women's noses

Incorrect.

To solve this Conclusion Strengthening question, first break down the argument. The first two sentences are premises providing factual data. The last sentence uses the conclusion word concluded so it's the author's conclusion:

Premise A: otoplasty is used to fix protruding ears
 +
Premise B: 76% of the otoplasties done last year were on men
 =
Conclusion: men's ears protrude more than women's ears

Possible assumption: men and women both have the same approach to cosmetic surgery

Strengthening Data: ?

You are required to find data that strengthens the conclusion that men's ears are more protruding than women's ears, on average. The correct answer could be one that confirms the argument's assumption.

This answer choice could be seen as supporting the above position under the rather questionable assumption that different body parts are correlated in size. That is, that if men's noses are, on average, more protruding or prominent than women's noses are, then the same is true for other body parts - in this case, ears.

However, remember that the correct answer to a Critical Reasoning question should be simple and straightforward, with very few or no assumptions. As there is another answer choice that clearly supports the above position more directly and strongly, it is superior to this one.

Otoplasty (ear cosmetic surgery) can reshape prominent or protruding

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

Otoplasty (ear cosmetic surgery) can reshape prominent or protruding

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