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605-655 Level|   Complete the Passage|            
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KarishmaB
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The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predict 20 Apr 2020, 00:36
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varotkorn
VeritasKarishma

(E) many people use their computers primarily for tasks such as correspondence that can be done more rapidly on the computer, and doing so leaves more leisure time for watching television.

This says that computers generate more free time. Does that imply anything about whether computer use increases/reduces TV time? No. Free time does not automatically convert to TV time. There is no implication about TV time here at all. So this is irrelevant.
Dear VeritasKarishma,

Q1. According to the bolded portion, more free time could then be translated into watching YouTube on a computer or studying Coursera online, right?

If that's the case, then computer uses actually REDUCE TV time, going AGAINST the conclusion stated in the passage.

Is my thinking fine?

Q2. This part in choice E. is very misleading : and doing so leaves more leisure time for watching television.

More free time FOR watching TV does NOT mean that that free time HAS TO / MUST BE SPENT in watching TV, right?
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Yes, "free time" is a third variable and how it impacts "computer time" and "TV time", we don't know. What people actually do with more free time, we don't know. Hence, we can conclude nothing out of more "free time" and hence it should be ignored.
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The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predict 15 Aug 2020, 12:28
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what is the proper reason to eliminate A?

we have to strengthen that computer use does not reduce the TV viewing time. Option A says that 'many people who do not TV or watch it very less do not own a computer'. This reasoning helps us say that its not the computer but something else that leads to reduced time.

Thanks
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The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predict 24 Aug 2020, 05:08
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manikmehta95
what is the proper reason to eliminate A?

we have to strengthen that computer use does not reduce the TV viewing time. Option A says that 'many people who do not TV or watch it very less do not own a computer'. This reasoning helps us say that its not the computer but something else that leads to reduced time.

Thanks
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Hi Manik

You are correct that we need to strengthen the argument that computer use does not reduce TV viewing time (alternatively, we can consider this problem to be a weaken exercise, wherein we need to weaken the argument that computer use reduces TV viewing time).

Option (A) states: many people who watch little or no television do not own a computer.

Now note the ask: Computer use does not reduce TV viewing time. In other words, if someone watches 5 hours (say) of TV in a day without using computers, then they would watch less than 5 hours due to using computers.

However, if the person does not own a computer at all, how do we assess the impact of computer use on their TV viewing time? It is important to note that we are asked to assess a reduction in TV viewing time due to computers. A low absolute number of TV viewing hours tells us nothing about the impact of computer use on TV viewing time. Hence option (A) is incorrect.

Hope this clarifies.
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The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predict 13 Jun 2021, 22:39
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Lets try answering option E with a yes and a no.

If yes, it means probably the time using computers has increased at office and not at home. Lets say that in an 8 hr work day at office the computer use has increased from 4 hrs to 6 hrs. But the time available for computer use at home is the same as it used to be earlier.
This supports the authors conclusion as well as explains the fact why the increased used of computers did not lead to a decrease in tv watching time.

If no, it means the time spent on a computer at home has increased. As the increased use of computer at home is most likely to decrease the TV watching time (logically assuming that one watches tv only at home and not at the office and that the total available free time at home for tv and computer is constant), the authors conclusion that people do have sufficient free time to accommodate increased use of computers while maintaining the use of tv breaks down.

As such imo option E is the correct option.

Comments are welcome..
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The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predict 11 Feb 2022, 13:59
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Hello,
I chose (A) because:
We are told in the argument that "people who own computers watch, on average, significantly less television than people who do not own computers. So if we are told also that "many people who watch little or no television do not own a computer.", then we can say that there is no correlation between computer use and watching television.
Please correct
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The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predict 18 Oct 2022, 13:58
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Could anyone correct my logic?

I chose D.
chesstitans

For the reason that the many computer owners in the United States have enough leisure time that spending significant amounts of time on the computer still leaves ample time for watching television.

So if they are not watching tv some other reason is there i.e. other than computer use because of which they are not interested in watching television.
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Hi mikemcgarry,

Please explain as to why (D) or (E) is wrong.
Quote:
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predicted to result in a corresponding decline in television viewing. Recent studies have found that, in the United States, people who own computers watch, on average, significantly less television than people who do not own computers. In itself, however, this finding does very little to show that computer use tends to reduce television viewing time, since _______.

(A) many people who watch little or no television do not own a computer.

(B) even though most computer owners in the United States watch significantly less television than the national average, some computer owners watch far more television than the national average.

(C) computer owners in the United States predominately belong to a demographic group that have long been known to spend less time watching television than the population as a whole does.

(D) many computer owners in the United States have enough leisure time that spending significant amounts of time on the computer still leaves ample time for watching television.

(E) many people use their computers primarily for tasks such as correspondence that can be done more rapidly on the computer, and doing so leaves more leisure time for watching television.
We are told that people who own computers watch significantly less television than people who do not own computers. But does that mean that computer use tends to REDUCE television viewing time? According to the author, it does not.

In other words, the author's conclusion is that the findings from the study do "very little to show that computer use tends to reduce television viewing time." We need an answer choice that supports this conclusion:

Quote:
(D) many computer owners in the United States have enough leisure time that spending significant amounts of time on the computer still leaves ample time for watching television.
Choice (D) tells us that the computer users are not interested in watching television. But would those people be MORE interested in watching television if they did not own computers? Perhaps they would not, and that would support the author's point of view. But perhaps they WOULD watch more television if they did not own computers, and that would go against the author's argument.

Choice (D) may or may not support the author's conclusion, so it is not the best answer.

Quote:
(E) many people use their computers primarily for tasks such as correspondence that can be done more rapidly on the computer, and doing so leaves more leisure time for watching television.
Choice (E) suggests that computer use leaves more time for television watching. But we already know that people with computers watch less television that people without computers.

Sure, (E) suggests that computer users would have less time for television if their computers were taken away. But we have no way of knowing whether computer owners would actually watch more or less television if their computers were taken away.

If people with computers watch less television, why can't we conclude that computer use tends to reduce television watching time? Choice (E) does not answer this question, so it should be eliminated.

Quote:
(C) computer owners in the United States predominately belong to a demographic group that have long been known to spend less time watching television than the population as a whole does.
Choice (C), on the other hand, does answer this question. (C) tells us that computer owners belong to a group that spends less time watching television. So these people have always watched less television. It just so happens that these people also tend to own computers, but computer use did not cause them to watch less television. They've always watched less television, so the finding is not related to the growing popularity of computer-based activities.

(C) is the best answer.
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Conclusion: Computer use does not reduce TV Time
Why? ---> this is what we need to find.
Premise: Computer based activities are predicted to reduce TV Time. Studies say that computer owners watch less TV that people who do not own computers.

So why is our finding different than this? Why is the cause & effect relationship (computer use >>> causes less TV watching) not working?


(A) many people who watch little or no television do not own a computer. ------------------ does not support our conclusion. If at all this wont even be a part of the study. Moreover, the cause & effect relationship is reversed here.
ELIMINATE

(B) even though most computer owners in the United States watch significantly less television than the national average, some computer owners watch far more television than the national average. --------------- This does not strengthen the conclusion that computer use causes less TV time, this option kind of counters the conclusion.
ELIMINATE

(C) computer owners in the United States predominately belong to a demographic group that have long been known to spend less time watching television than the population as a whole doe. ------------------ VOILA! This says that the people who own computers won’t watch much TV regardless of the computer use. This supports the conclusion that computer use does not cause reduced TV Time.
CORRECT

(D) many computer owners in the United States have enough leisure time that spending significant amounts of time on the computer still leaves ample time for watching television. ------------------ just because they have time, doesn’t mean they will spend that time actually watching TV. Not helping.
ELIMINATE

(E) many people use their computers primarily for tasks such as correspondence that can be done more rapidly on the computer, and doing so leaves more leisure time for watching television. ---------- just like D, just because they have time, doesn’t mean they will actually watch TV in that time. Not helping
ELIMINATE

GMATNinja I am not sure if my reasoning is correct. Could you help?
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The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predict 30 Sep 2023, 08:24
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My opinion on the answer is different from most explanations that have been posted on the group.

IMO Ans choice D and E are equally good (or atleast not so bad to eliminate) to weaken the assertion, they do ask for inferences but those inferences are easy and nearly undisputed. Having more time on the hands, and yet not watching television does prove that the link is broken.

What set C apart for me was that C addresses 'a proportion' of the population and tells us the majority (predominantly) are from a particular demographic and that is the reason they don't watch much television. whereas , A, D and E all talk about 'many' which could still mean a minority of the population.

This made it quite easy to apply PoE

Hope this makes sense.
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The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely predict 16 Nov 2025, 15:34
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