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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of Updated on: 19 Sep 2018, 02:54
Originally posted by akela on 30 Aug 2017, 09:26.
Last edited by Bunuel on 19 Sep 2018, 02:54, edited 2 times in total.
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33% (02:17) correct 67% (02:22) wrong based on 860 sessions

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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of smell. In one important study, 100 workers from sulfur-emitting factories and a control group of 100 workers from other occupations were asked to identify a variety of chemically reproduced scents, including those of foods, spices, and flowers. On average, the factory workers successfully identified 10 percent of the scents compared to 50 percent for the control group.

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

(A) The chemicals used in the study closely but not perfectly reproduced the corresponding natural scents.
(B) The subjects in the study were tested in the environments where they usually work.
(C) Most members of the control group had participated in several earlier studies that involved the identification of scents.
(D) Every sulfur-emitting factory with workers participating in the study also emits other noxious fumes.
(E) Because of the factories’ locations, the factory workers were less likely than those in the control group to have been exposed to many of the scents used in the study.

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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 30 Aug 2017, 11:23
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of smell. In one important study, 100 workers from sulfur-emitting factories and a control group of 100 workers from other occupations were asked to identify a variety of chemically reproduced scents, including those of foods, spices, and flowers. On average, the factory workers successfully identified 10 percent of the scents compared to 50 percent for the control group.

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

(A) The chemicals used in the study closely but not perfectly reproduced the corresponding natural scents.
(B) The subjects in the study were tested in the environments where they usually work.
(C) Most members of the control group had participated in several earlier studies that involved the identification of scents.
(D) Every sulfur-emitting factory with workers participating in the study also emits other noxious fumes.
(E) Because of the factories’ locations, the factory workers were less likely than those in the control group to have been exposed to many of the scents used in the study.



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Apart from A , each option is giving a reason to doubt on the experiment ... both group have same food to smell..so balance ...

in B - test is performed in different Env...
C- kind of biased test
D-alternate cause of problem
E-again factory worker are not aware of many scents ...
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 08 Sep 2017, 02:50
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Quote:
Task: Eliminate the four answers that weaken the argument (select the one answer that is irrelevant or strengthens)

Argument Core:

Conc -
prolonged exposure to sulfur permanently damages one's sense of smell

why?
Prem -
Study (100 sulfur workers vs. 100 other workers ... sulfur workers were less able to identify scents of foods, spices, flowers, etc.)

How might we Weaken this?

I typically start with important terms from the Conclusion and make sure they've been properly established in the Evidence or Linked to it.

How do we know these factory workers have suffered PERMANENT exposure?

How do we know that the sulfur workers have actually had PROLONGED exposure to sulfur fumes?

But I would also anticipate LSAT's usual bag of tricks in weakening an argument based on a Study / Explanation / Causality
- unrepresentative samples
- poor methodology
- anything else that suggests an alternative explanation for the study results / points to another significant difference between the two groups

(A) Hmmm, this doesn't seem to do much. Sure the chemical replacements weren't perfect, but that's an incredibly high standard. Plus, even if they were less than perfect, we still have to figure out why the sulfur workers did so much worse than the other workers. This brings up an attribute of the study that equally affects both groups. Keep it, this is probably the answer.

(B) This weakens by pointing to a significant difference between the two groups. If you took a smell test somewhere where there are heavy sulfur fumes hanging in the air (as the sulfur workers did), then OF COURSE it's hard to identify scents. All you can smell is the sulfur! That doesn't prove the sulfur workers have had their sense of smell damaged ... it just shows that the sulfur overpowered the scents that were being tested. Eliminate.

(C) Significant difference between the two groups! The control group was already good at this task ... they've been primed to perform better at this task by having previous experience with it.

(D) Alternative cause! Maybe the sulfur workers perform worse because some OTHER noxious fume at their work has damaged their sense of smell. Eliminate.

(E) Significant difference between the two groups! The sulfur workers aren't even familiar with some of the scents being tested, so they wouldn't be able to successfully identify them, whether or not their sense of smell had been damaged.

(A) is the correct answer. The easiest way to "feel" how it's different from all the others is to see that it points out a "sameness", whereas all the correct answers point out a DISTINCTION between the sulfur workers and the control group.
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 14 Sep 2017, 14:40
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yes, although A is not the causal relation, A strengthens the argument.
D gives an alternative causes that may damage the sense ability.
B is an biased test.
C and E are clearly wrong.
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 08 Dec 2019, 10:12
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 17 May 2021, 21:25
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Akela
Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of smell. In one important study, 100 workers from sulfur-emitting factories and a control group of 100 workers from other occupations were asked to identify a variety of chemically reproduced scents, including those of foods, spices, and flowers. On average, the factory workers successfully identified 10 percent of the scents compared to 50 percent for the control group.

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

(A) The chemicals used in the study closely but not perfectly reproduced the corresponding natural scents.
(B) The subjects in the study were tested in the environments where they usually work.
(C) Most members of the control group had participated in several earlier studies that involved the identification of scents.
(D) Every sulfur-emitting factory with workers participating in the study also emits other noxious fumes.
(E) Because of the factories’ locations, the factory workers were less likely than those in the control group to have been exposed to many of the scents used in the study.

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Hi VeritasKarishma GMATNinja please help here, I selected A because it sort of strengthens the argument i.e. the scents used in the test closely resembled natural scents - This implies that there were no issues with the scents used indicating they should've been identified but still only 10% of factory workers were able to identify compared to 50% of the control group, With this, we can argue that yes factory worker sense of smell has been damaged. But I am not sure what is B doing to the argument.

Apprciate your time on this. Thanks in advance
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 18 May 2021, 23:43
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Akela
Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of smell. In one important study, 100 workers from sulfur-emitting factories and a control group of 100 workers from other occupations were asked to identify a variety of chemically reproduced scents, including those of foods, spices, and flowers. On average, the factory workers successfully identified 10 percent of the scents compared to 50 percent for the control group.

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

(A) The chemicals used in the study closely but not perfectly reproduced the corresponding natural scents.
(B) The subjects in the study were tested in the environments where they usually work.
(C) Most members of the control group had participated in several earlier studies that involved the identification of scents.
(D) Every sulfur-emitting factory with workers participating in the study also emits other noxious fumes.
(E) Because of the factories’ locations, the factory workers were less likely than those in the control group to have been exposed to many of the scents used in the study.

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- 100 workers from sulfur-emitting factories and a control group of 100 workers from other occupations were asked to identify a variety of chemically reproduced scents, including those of foods, spices, and flowers.
- On average, the factory workers successfully identified 10 percent of the scents compared to 50 percent for the control group.

Conclusion: Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of smell.

The conclusion says that sulphur fumes damage sense of smell.

(A) The chemicals used in the study closely but not perfectly reproduced the corresponding natural scents.

Whether they were exact replicas or slightly off, doesn't matter. Both groups got the same scents. If 50% of the control group was able to identify, but only 10% of sulphur group was able to identify then there seems to be some loss of smell in the sulphur group.
Option (A) doesn't impact the conclusion.

(B) The subjects in the study were tested in the environments where they usually work.

If the subjects were tested where they work, sulphur factory workers were tested in sulphur factories. So the sulphur fumes could have distorted the smells. We cannot conclude that the sulphur factory workers sense of smell is permanently damaged then. This weakens our conclusion.

(C) Most members of the control group had participated in several earlier studies that involved the identification of scents.

The control group people were experienced in identifying smells. It could account for their superior performance. IT weakens our argument.

(D) Every sulfur-emitting factory with workers participating in the study also emits other noxious fumes.

The loss of smell could be because of something other than sulphur. But our conclusion says that sulphur is the cause. It weakens our conclusion.

(E) Because of the factories’ locations, the factory workers were less likely than those in the control group to have been exposed to many of the scents used in the study.

If the sulphur factory workers do not know what many things smell like, that could be the reason they could not identify the smell. Weakens our conclusion.

Answer (A)
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 19 May 2021, 09:45
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having trouble with CR, any strategy to tackle CR,
if some have guide or trick to solve, request you to link it!!!!
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 19 May 2021, 10:05
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GAngstA
having trouble with CR, any strategy to tackle CR,
if some have guide or trick to solve, request you to link it!!!!
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Hi GAngstA thanks for your post, have you tried going through the PowerScope bible? It would certainly help you build the basic concepts on how to identify and approach each type of CR question. After going through PowerScope, you can start practicing sub-600 level questions of each category, and then start with difficult level questions. Also, GMATNinja videos and intro guide to CR will help you a lot. Below is the link for the same

1. https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmat-ninja-live-youtube-videos-by-topic-309678.html#p2396353

I hope this helps.
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 26 Nov 2022, 06:05
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of smell. In one important study, 100 workers from sulfur-emitting factories and a control group of 100 workers from other occupations were asked to identify a variety of chemically reproduced scents, including those of foods, spices, and flowers. On average, the factory workers successfully identified 10 percent of the scents compared to 50 percent for the control group.

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

(A) The chemicals used in the study closely but not perfectly reproduced the corresponding natural scents.
(B) The subjects in the study were tested in the environments where they usually work.
(C) Most members of the control group had participated in several earlier studies that involved the identification of scents.
(D) Every sulfur-emitting factory with workers participating in the study also emits other noxious fumes.
(E) Because of the factories’ locations, the factory workers were less likely than those in the control group to have been exposed to many of the scents used in the study.

Two groups, one of sulphur-emitting factory workers and one of other occupations, are studied in an experiment in which it is identified that prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of smell. How?? It is given in the last sentence of the passage.

What makes the claim go wrong that it was not sulphur fumes behind such a result?

It was close call between A and D. Having considered A earlier, I fell for D. It was because I considered sulphur as noxious fume forgetting about "other". Anyway it was not sulphur but other noxious fumes for such a result.
A neither weakens nor strengthens the claim in the passage.

Answer A.
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Prolonged exposure to sulfur fumes permanently damages one's sense of 06 Nov 2024, 00:48
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