Though sucking zinc lozenges has been promoted as a treatment for the

Question

Though sucking zinc lozenges has been promoted as a treatment for the common cold,
research has revealed no consistent effect. Recently, however, a zinc gel applied nasally
has been shown to greatly reduce the duration of colds. Since the gel contains zinc in the
same form and concentration as the lozenges, the greater effectiveness of the gel must be
due to the fact that cold viruses tend to concentrate in the nose, not the mouth.

In order to evaluate the argument, it would be most helpful to determine which of the
following?

A. Whether zinc is effective only against colds, or also has an effect on other virally
caused diseases

B. Whether there are remedies that do not contain zinc but that, when taken orally,
can reduce the duration of colds

C. Whether people who frequently catch colds have a zinc deficiency

D. Whether either the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an
impact on the activity of the zinc

E. Whether the zinc gel has an effect on the severity of cold symptoms, as well as on
their duration

Answer:

KarishmaB · Accepted Answer

Responding to a pm:

The argument compares zinc lozenges with zinc gel. 
The conclusion of the argument is "the greater effectiveness of the gel must be due to the fact that cold viruses tend to concentrate in the nose, not the mouth."

Now, we would like to further evaluate the argument i.e. if we need to evaluate the conclusion of the argument, which of the following would help us? Mind you, you want to evaluate the accuracy of the conclusion so you need an option which talks about zinc lozenges vs zinc gel. Only option (D) does this. It asks us to consider whether either the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc. It asks us to consider whether there is another reason for the greater effectiveness of the gel - does the gel have another ingredient which makes the zinc more active/effective and which is not there in the lozenges.
None of the other options talk about gel vs lozenges.

khaos · Answer

My pick is D

The argument is :"the greater effectiveness of the gel must be
due to the fact that cold viruses tend to concentrate in the nose, not the mouth". 

Therefore, knowing "Whether either the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc" will be helpful in evaluating the validity of the argument (because if the zinc gel contains ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc, then the greater effectiveness is not due to the fact that cold viruses concentrate in the nose).

somerandomguy · Answer

Though sucking zinc lozenges has been promoted as a treatment for the common cold,
research has revealed no consistent effect. Recently, however, a zinc gel applied nasally
has been shown to greatly reduce the duration of colds. Since the gel contains zinc in the
same form and concentration as the lozenges, the greater effectiveness of the gel must be
due to the fact that cold viruses tend to concentrate in the nose, not the mouth.

In order to evaluate the argument, it would be most helpful to determine which of the
following?

A. Whether zinc is effective only against colds, or also has an effect on other virally
caused diseases
 Eliminate: Out of scope "other virally caused diseases" 
B. Whether there are remedies that do not contain zinc but that, when taken orally,
can reduce the duration of colds
 Same reasoning as A. 
C. Whether people who frequently catch colds have a zinc deficiency
 Eliminate: We're not talking about the chances of zinc deficiency, the stimulus only talks about zinc being a treatment. 
D. Whether either the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an
impact on the activity of the zinc
 My choice. Yes, if there is an ingredient that has an effect on the activity of zinc, the conclusion does not follow. We would not know whether the virus lives in the nose or mouth. Inversely, if there is no ingredient in the cold medication that has an impact on zinc then the conclusion would follow. 
E. Whether the zinc gel has an effect on the severity of cold symptoms, as well as on
their duration
 We're only talking about zinc being able to treat the cold. We're not comparing degrees of treatment.

roadrunner · Answer

Argument: Zinc performs better when applied nasally than when consumed orally because cold viruses tend to concentrate in the nose.
So the way both medicines perform is same and one is not inherently better than the other medicine? Only concentration of cold viruses makes gel based medicine more effective.

In order to evaluate the argument, it would be most helpful to determine which of the
following?

A. Whether zinc is effective only against colds, or also has an effect on other virally
caused diseases  OOS

B. Whether there are remedies that do not contain zinc but that, when taken orally,
can reduce the duration of colds  OOS

C. Whether people who frequently catch colds have a zinc deficiency  Then both medicines will be ineffective. Not helping here. OOS

D. Whether either the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an
impact on the activity of the zinc If yes, then argument fails, else strengthens it

E. Whether the zinc gel has an effect on the severity of cold symptoms, as well as on
their duration Although gel has an effect, it doesn't help answer whether zinc gel performs better because of virus concentration in nasal area

Answer: D

arvind910619 · Answer

The answer is D

The composition and concentration of zinc in Zinc gel and lozenges is same but the effect is much more when it is applied nasally .
There must be some other ingredient in Zinc gel to make it much more effective than lozenges.
Option D is saying this

Skywalker18 · Answer

Though sucking zinc lozenges has been promoted as a treatment for the common cold, research has revealed no consistent effect. Recently, however, a zinc gel applied nasally
has been shown to greatly reduce the duration of colds. Since the gel contains zinc in the same form and concentration as the lozenges, the greater effectiveness of the gel must be
due to the fact that cold viruses tend to concentrate in the nose, not the mouth.

Type - evaluate 
Boil it down - Since the gel contains zinc in the same form and concentration as the lozenges, the greater effectiveness of the gel must be due to the fact that cold viruses tend to concentrate in the nose, not the mouth.

A. Whether zinc is effective only against colds, or also has an effect on other virally caused diseases - Out of scope - other diseases are not relevant

B. Whether there are remedies that do not contain zinc but that, when taken orally, can reduce the duration of colds - Irrelevant - we are not concerned about other remedies

C. Whether people who frequently catch colds have a zinc deficiency - Irrelevant

D. Whether either the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc - Correct - if either gel or lozenges contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc, then it weakens the claim else it does not

E. Whether the zinc gel has an effect on the severity of cold symptoms, as well as on their duration - Irrelevant

Answer D

Appler · Answer

Background information indicates that nasally applied zinc gel is more effective that sucking zinc lozenges. So the arguments come to the conclusion that the nasally applied version works better because the cold virus is concentrated in the nose.
Approach: We actually need to find an answer choice that helps us to determine the validity of the conclusion.

A. Whether zinc is effective only against colds, or also has an effect on other virally caused diseases
Sorry, effectiveness of the lozenges to other virus is not our concern

B. Whether there are remedies that do not contain zinc but that, when taken orally, can reduce the duration of colds
Duration of cold and other remedies are not our concern.

C. Whether people who frequently catch colds have a zinc deficiency
The claim, "People who catch cold frequently", is narrowing the topic.

D. Whether either the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc
If there’s an ingredient in zinc gel/lozenges have an impact on the activity of zinc, it will give us a valid reason to evaluate the conclusion.

E. Whether the zinc gel has an effect on the severity of cold symptoms, as well as on their duration
Same reason as B.

tejasvkalra · Answer

GMATNinja  ,  VeritasKarishma  
kindly help with my query-
in (B) if the answer to the question is yes , we can make a case that yes there are some remedies that can help with the duration of cold , when taken orally; this weakens our argument by saying that cold virus lives in the mouth
if the answer is no , we have some support for the conclusion; some other remedy is also not effective when taken orally, so the virus must be there in the nose

theweeknd · Answer

Though sucking zinc lozenges has been promoted as a treatment for the common cold, research has revealed no consistent effect. Recently, however, a zinc gel applied nasally
has been shown to greatly reduce the duration of colds. Since the gel contains zinc in the same form and concentration as the lozenges, the greater effectiveness of the gel must be
due to the fact that cold viruses tend to concentrate in the nose, not the mouth.

A. Whether zinc is effective only against colds, or also has an effect on other virally caused diseases - Out of scope - other diseases are not relevant

B. Whether there are remedies that do not contain zinc but that, when taken orally, can reduce the duration of colds - Irrelevant - we are not concerned about other remedies

C. Whether people who frequently catch colds have a zinc deficiency - Irrelevant

D. Whether either the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc - Correct - if either gel or lozenges contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc, then it weakens the claim else it does not

E. Whether the zinc gel has an effect on the severity of cold symptoms, as well as on their duration - Irrelevant

Answer D

GMATNinja · Answer

Let's take a look at the passage before taking a closer look at (B).

The passage tells us:
  1) Research suggests there is no consistent effect on the common cold of sucking zinc lozenges 
 2) A zinc gel taken nasally has been shown to dramatically reduce the duration of colds 
 3) The gel and the lozenge have the same form and concentration of zinc 
 4) Therefore, the greater effectiveness of the gel is due to the cold virus concentrating in the nose, not the mouth

This suggests that since the type and concentration of zinc are the same in both treatments but they're used in different areas, the greater effectiveness of the gel  must  be due to its placement in the nose, compared to the lozenge being used in the mouth.

We're asked which of the answer choices would best help us evaluate the argument.

(B) tells us:
 
From this, we do not know whether the remedies suggested remain in the mouth and are sucked (like the lozenge) or are swallowed and digested. If they are swallowed, digested, and absorbed into the bloodstream before having their effects, then we cannot know whether the cold virus tends to concentrate in the nose or the mouth. The remedy in the bloodstream will be carried to both areas and can demonstrate its effectiveness by attacking the cold virus wherever it finds it.

From (B), there is still too much we don't know about the action of the remedies mentioned to suggest it would help us determine whether the cold virus tends to concentrate in the nose or the mouth -- (B) is not our answer.

Let's take a look at (D):
 
If the lozenge contains an ingredient that inhibits the action of zinc  OR  the gel contains an ingredient that enhances the action of zinc, then we cannot necessarily say that it is the placement of each treatment that explains the difference in effect. The difference in ingredients might have a greater effect.

If we know that the other ingredients in each treatment have no impact, or the same impact, on the effectiveness of the zinc, then we would have more confidence that the placement of the treatments is a likely cause of the difference in effectiveness of the treatments.

(D) would help us evaluate the argument in the passage, so (D) is the answer to this question.

I hope that helps!

KarishmaB · Answer

What is the conclusion? It is 'the greater effectiveness of the gel must be due to the fact that cold viruses tend to concentrate in the nose, not the mouth.'
So the conclusion tells you why gel is more effective. The conclusion is not that cold virus concentrate in the nose, not the mouth. That is a fact. The conclusion establishes the fact as the reason for the assertion that gel is more effective than lozenges.

So when you evaluate the argument, you need to evaluate whether that is the reason why gel is more effective than lozenges or whether there is another reason. 
If gel has something more which makes it more effective, then that could be the reason.

(B) doesn't talk about gel vs lozenges at all. So it is irrelevant.

Raman109 · Answer

In evaluating the question, we are trying to check the validity of the argument. The right answers are framed along the lines of assumptions. 
The scope of our argument is - that the gel containing zinc is more effective (when applied on the nose) because of the fact that the virus is in the nose. 
How do we strengthen this relationship - by showing that there is no alternate reason and that the fact that the virus is in the nose is the only reason? 
And how do we weaken this relationship - by showing that there is an alternate reason?

Option elimination -

A. Whether zinc is effective only against colds, or also has an effect on other virally caused diseases - does it affect our scope in any way? No. Out of scope.

B. Whether there are remedies that do not contain zinc but that, when taken orally, can reduce the duration of colds - Are we concerned about the remedies that don't contain Zinc? No. Are we concerned about the duration of the cold? No. Our scope is limited to "that the gel containing zinc is more effective (when applied on the nose) because of the fact that the virus is in the nose." Does this option impact our scope in any way? No. Out of scope.

C. Whether people who frequently catch colds have a zinc deficiency - How does Zinc deficiency relate to our scope? If at all, it is equally applicable for both lozenges and gel. At best, this is out of scope.

D. Whether either the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc - ok
Check 
Yes, the zinc gel or the lozenges contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc. It provides an alternate reason. Weakens the conclusion. 
No, the zinc gel or the lozenges do not contain ingredients that have an impact on the activity of the zinc. It removes an alternate reason. Strengthen our conclusion.

E. Whether the zinc gel has an effect on the severity of cold symptoms, as well as on their duration - severity or duration are both out of scope.

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Though sucking zinc lozenges has been promoted as a treatment for the

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