Last visit was: 19 Jul 2025, 23:55 It is currently 19 Jul 2025, 23:55
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 19 Jul 2025
Posts: 102,627
Own Kudos:
742,835
 [8]
Given Kudos: 98,235
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 102,627
Kudos: 742,835
 [8]
Kudos
Add Kudos
8
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
mehtasahil56
Joined: 04 Feb 2022
Last visit: 21 Sep 2022
Posts: 11
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 16
Posts: 11
Kudos: 1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
sony1000
Joined: 31 May 2015
Last visit: 16 Jan 2025
Posts: 207
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 220
Location: Fiji
Schools: IE
GPA: 1
Schools: IE
Posts: 207
Kudos: 264
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
AnirudhaS
User avatar
LBS Moderator
Joined: 30 Oct 2019
Last visit: 25 Jun 2024
Posts: 812
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 1,575
Posts: 812
Kudos: 850
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
(A) Throughout their time in the Corp, whether during war or peace, Marines frequently engage in activities that reinforce the value of cooperation and camaraderie.

Why is A also not the answer?

Marines frequently engage in activities that reinforce cooperation.
Therefore, intense bond is formed.
Justifies the argument.

This is a strengthener to me. (Of course B also justifies the argument, I'm not denying that)
avatar
CalvinYuan
Joined: 25 Jan 2022
Last visit: 15 Oct 2022
Posts: 1
Given Kudos: 1
Posts: 1
Kudos: 0
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AnirudhaS
(A) Throughout their time in the Corp, whether during war or peace, Marines frequently engage in activities that reinforce the value of cooperation and camaraderie.

Why is A also not the answer?

Marines frequently engage in activities that reinforce cooperation.
Therefore, intense bond is formed.
Justifies the argument.

This is a strengthener to me. (Of course B also justifies the argument, I'm not denying that)

My understanding is that we need an answer that shows specifically how the "Recruit Training Program" helps to form bonds. Choice A, however, talks about the entire "time" that marines spend in the Corp, so we can't assume that it is this particular program provided by the Corp that achieves the goal. Hence, B is the answer, which specifically talks about the program.
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 19 Jul 2025
Posts: 102,627
Own Kudos:
742,835
 [1]
Given Kudos: 98,235
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 102,627
Kudos: 742,835
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Bunuel
The members of the United States Marine Corp (USMC) are famed for their intense devotion to one another. The Marine motto "Semper Fidelis" (Latin, "Always Faithful") is taken to connote, among other things, the lifelong devotion a Marine has to his or her comrades in the corp. Psychologists who study cohesion among groups have concluded that the USMC creates this intense bond through its unique Recruit Training program.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to justify the psychologists' position?

(A) Throughout their time in the Corp, whether during war or peace, Marines frequently engage in activities that reinforce the value of cooperation and camaraderie.

(B) New recruits are far more likely to engage in aloof behavior during the early stages of the USMC Recruit Training than during later stages.

(C) All branches of the armed forces have levels of internal cohesion much higher than typical civilian groups of similar aged individuals

(D) During their time in the USMC Recruit Training, new recruits have minimal interactions with people outside of the corp.

(E) It is well documented that intense professional training programs, such as medical school, form strong bonds among participants.


Official Explanation



In the argument, the unambiguous effect we want to explain is the intense "Semper Fi" cohesion of the Marines. That's not in question at all. The argument's conclusion suggests that the cause of this effect is the USMC's unique Recruit Training program. To strengthen this argument, we need something that isolates this cause, as opposed to some other cause.

(B) is the credited answer. If new recruits start out acting more independently at the beginning of the training, but are more bonded and cohesive by the end of the training, this strongly suggests that the training itself causes the group cohesion that we would like to explain. This justifies the psychologists' position.

(A) & (C) & (E) all suggest other possible causes of group cohesion, so they all are weakening the psychologists' position.

(D) is weakly suggestive, but not conclusive. It could be that new recruits are isolated during the training, during which they get very lonely, and only after the training they start to bond. This fact does not necessarily isolate the Recruit Training program itself as the sole cause of the intense group cohesion of the Marines.
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 18,456
Own Kudos:
Posts: 18,456
Kudos: 955
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
Moderators:
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7359 posts
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
235 posts