Representative of manufacturer: Our new hearing aid offers the best

Question

Representative of manufacturer: Our new hearing aid offers the best overall help to people who are hard of hearing. Many aids do a comparable job of boosting sound levels sufficiently in one-on-one conversations, but our new aid offers much better comprehensibility in noisy situations such as restaurants and parties.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument made by the representative?

(A) The cost of the new hearing aid is no more than that of other comparable models available from other manufacturers.
(B) In tests, people who were hard of hearing said that they found the use of the new hearing aid simple.
(C) Use of the new hearing aid can benefit individuals without hearing problems in certain work environments. 
(D) The new hearing aid uses technological improvements that make it more effective in one-on-one conversations than was the last model made by the same manufacturer.
(E) The new hearing aid outperforms other aids in assisting comprehensibility to drivers.

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Question 48: New Hearing Aids

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VBudhew · Answer

IMO D is the correct answer

Stem explicitly mentions about the one-on-one communication and thus D is the only option apart from E for strengthening it in that way

RashmikaAnegama · Answer

IMO, the correct answer is D

A  The cost of the new hearing aid is no more than that of other comparable models available from other manufacturers. 
This isn't making any additional strengthening point, it's price is similar to others.

B  In tests, people who were hard of hearing said that they found the use of the new hearing aid simple. 
This can be a a strengthener, but it's also possible that all the other aids are simple as well. So, can be eliminated.

C  Use of the new hearing aid can benefit individuals without hearing problems in certain work environments. 
Irrelevant

D  The new hearing aid uses technological improvements that make it more effective in one-on-one conversations than was the last model made by the same manufacturer. 
It's making a point why the new one is better than the others, go for it!

E  The new hearing aid outperforms other aids in assisting comprehensibility to drivers. 
Irrelevant

Loser94 · Answer

HA is best because it provides the best comprehensibility 
strengthen 
Pre thinking:- any relations or event that shows this thing happens will strengthen the argument.

(A) The cost of the new hearing aid is no more than that of other comparable models available from other manufacturers.
Cost - irrelevant
(B) In tests, people who were hard of hearing said that they found the use of the new hearing aid simple.
Simple use-irrelevant
(C) Use of the new hearing aid can benefit individuals without hearing problems in certain work environments.
benefits-irrelevant
(D) The new hearing aid uses technological improvements that make it more effective in one-on-one conversations than was the last model made by the same manufacturer.
Yes it makes one on communications better but that is the same on almost all the Hearing aids
(E) The new hearing aid outperforms other aids in assisting comprehensibility to drivers
Correct shows instance in which HA gives better comprehensibility.

IMO-E

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation:

Representative of manufacturer: Our new hearing aid offers the best overall help to people who are hard of hearing. Many aids do a comparable job of boosting sound levels sufficiently in one-on-one conversations, but our new aid offers much better comprehensibility in noisy situations such as restaurants and parties.
 
 Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument made by the representative? 
 
 (A) The cost of the new hearing aid is no more than that of other comparable models available from other manufacturers.
(B) In tests, people who were hard of hearing said that they found the use of the new hearing aid simple.
(C) Use of the new hearing aid can benefit individuals without hearing problems in certain work environments. 
(D) The new hearing aid uses technological improvements that make it more effective in one-on-one conversations than was the last model made by the same manufacturer. 
 (E) The new hearing aid outperforms other aids in assisting comprehensibility to drivers.
 
  Question Type:   Strengthen
  Boil It Down:   Representative believes their new hearing aid is the best on the market because it does something better than other aids: it allows the wearer to understand the person they’re listening to better in noisy situations. 
  Goal:    Find another point that would help strengthen the representative’s argument that their new hearing aid performs better than others on the market.

Analysis:

The question asks for information that would strengthen the conclusion made by the representative.
 
 Conclusion:  The new hearing aid offers the best overall help to people who are hard of hearing.
 Evidence:  The new aid offers much better comprehensibility in noisy situations such as restaurants and parties.
 Assumption:  There are no other reasons why the aid might not be the “best help” for people who are hard of hearing.
 
If, as choice E states, the aid is better than other aids in driving conditions, this would support the conclusion.

(A) The cost of the new hearing aid is no more than that of other comparable models available from other manufacturers.
 This is incorrect because it’s irrelevant. Cost is not a factor that was mentioned in the conclusion. The argument is simply about whether the aid is best at helping people hear.

(B) In tests, people who were hard of hearing said that they found the use of the new hearing aid simple.
 This is incorrect. Ease of use is not a factor mentioned in the conclusion.

(C) Use of the new hearing aid can benefit individuals without hearing problems in certain work environments. 
 This is incorrect. The conclusion is only about how well the aid helps people who ARE hard of hearing.

(D) The new hearing aid uses technological improvements that make it more effective in one-on-one conversations than was the last model made by the same manufacturer.
 This is incorrect. The argument already mentions that the new aid is of comparable quality in this respect, so this is irrelevant.

(E) The new hearing aid outperforms other aids in assisting comprehensibility to drivers.
 This is the correct choice. This option also has to do with performance, which is the main point of the original passage (it performs better in crowds/loud situations).  
Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

Fdambro294 · Answer

This is one of those rare conclusions where the author says “this is the best” or this specific plan will work the best.

focusing on the exact Conclusion we need to strengthen always helps. We want to make it a little more likely that this hearing aid “offers the best overall help” for people who are hard of hearing.

D compared the current year’s model with last year’s. The fact that this year’s aid is better “technologically” than last year’s aid does not really support the idea that this year’s aid is the “BEST OVERALL.”

E, however, provides a specific instance in which the hearing aid “outperforms” all the competitors.

Are we sure that it is the best overall hearing aid because it performs the best in one area? No.

But is it now a little more likely that the hearing aid could be the best overall after reading this fact in answer choice E? Yes

The key is focusing on the exact words in the conclusion: how the aid is the “best overall” in helping people who are “hard of hearing.”

By focusing on whether each AC makes this claim more likely or not, you can eliminate the other answer choices.

E

Another way to eliminate D is to focus on the word “technologically” better. Do we know that just because the aid this year is better “technologically” that it actually helps those ppl who are hard of hearing better than last year’s? And further, does technological improvement necessarily equate to “best overall” at helping ppl who are hard of hearing?

Just because something is technologically better doesn’t mean that it’s effectiveness at helping these specific people has improved.

For these reasons, E seems to more clearly support the argument than D does.

Posted from my mobile device

Kapil1650 · Answer

It can not be D though i marked D as well.
Look at the last sentence that rules out the one-on-one aspect of the aid instead focuses on something to do with noisy situations; all options from a to d does not support this argument, hence by process of elimination it can not a,b,c or d . Though I am not sure why it should be e!! Lol

Posted from my mobile device

Fdambro294 · Answer

I’m kinda in agreement with you, I got to the answer by process of elimination.

E was the closest one that supported the idea that this hearing aid was the most effective for this group of people. Also it kinda helps to link up the support for the conclusion. Driving is a noisy situation, and by showing it performs better than the competitors’ aids in this particular noisy situation, the fact makes the argument a little more likely to be valid.

Not the biggest fan of the A.C., but I’ve had that feeling a lot on the actual practice exams too.

In summary, I agree with you

Piyush785 · Answer

IT IS NOT SAYING THAT IT IS PROVIDING BETTER AID THAN BEFORE OR BETTER ONE ON ONE AID THAN OTHERS BUT....IT IS SAYING THE BEST POSSIBLE OVERALL AID IN BOTH ONE ON ONE AS WELL AS NOISY ENVIRONMENTS,PARTICULARLY THE NOISY ENVIRONMENT IS ITS NEW FEATURE THAT OUTPERFORMS OTHERS..
HOPE IT HELPS

RS2747 · Answer

How is E the answer? E talks about comprehensibility to drivers. Question stem talks about "help to people who are hard of hearing"

thelastskybender · Answer

Got this question in my Daily Practice Questions list.

AndrewN  Can you please help me with this question? I was stuck between B and D.

My reasoning:

What if the new hearing aid is so complex to use that people with hearing problem find it a little difficult to use? Ease of use will be a factor to determine overall help to people who are hard of hearing. Hence I thought B is a strengthener too.

Regarding D: new hearing aid outperforming other aids in assisting comprehensibility to drivers will come under one-on-one conversations, for which information is already given in premise and we can't question the premise, which says "Many aids do a comparable job of boosting sound levels sufficiently in one-on-one conversations". You can't assume that conversation with driver is gonna be in crowdy/loud situations. You can lower down you glasses and dampen the noise alot or meet the driver in place where it's not very crowded. I think too many assumptions will have to be taken to choose this option.

rak08 · Answer

I selected E because

A - irrelevant --> cost
B - "use" is not the point of contention
C - people who hear well are not our subject matter
D - comparing with its own prev model rather than "other models"
E - only one left. 
also makes sense because comparison is with other aids

Representative of manufacturer: Our new hearing aid offers the best

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Representative of manufacturer: Our new hearing aid offers the best

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