An avid television viewer is statistically more likely to take sleepin

Question

An avid television viewer is statistically more likely to take sleeping pills at bedtime than a person who enjoys listening to classical music but does not watch television as a habit. Clearly, listening to classical music just before bedtime contributes to a more restful night’s sleep, whereas watching television before bedtime has the opposite effect.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the above argument?

(A) Reading a book before bedtime contributes to restful sleep more than listening to music does. 
(B) People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime. 
(C) Sleeplessness is more common among people who watch late-night television than among people who do not. 
(D) Engaging in a bedtime activity that is mentally stimulating often interferes with a person’s ability to fall asleep. 
(E) A silent environment is less conducive to restful sleep than an environment with calming ambient sounds.

Source: LSAT

piyatiwari · Answer

I say B.

(A) Reading a book before bedtime contributes to restful sleep more than listening to music does. >> Just a fact. Neutral.

(B) People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime. >> Correct. Though they enjoy classical music, they do not listen to it before bedtime. This shatters the conclusion.

(C) Sleeplessness is more common among people who watch late-night television than among people who do not. >> Supports the conclusion.

(D) Engaging in a bedtime activity that is mentally stimulating often interferes with a person’s ability to fall asleep. >> Supports the conclusion.

(E) A silent environment is less conducive to restful sleep than an environment with calming ambient sounds. >> Supports the conclusion.

What is the OA?
What is the source?

Jp27 · Answer

Hi -> The argument has a causality in the conclusion i.e when 
Music causes sleep
TV causes No sleep

Whenever we have causality be vary because they are weakly supported as its done here; We can weaken by saying B causes A or something else caused B....

Let's look into only B and C
C-> Sleeplessness is more common among people who watch late-night television than among people who do not. 
This we already know from the argument don't we? this doesn't go one way or another i.e which caused which..... No good!

B -> People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime. 
This gives alternate cause i.e its NOT MUSIC causes sleep BUT reading causes sleep, hence our answer

this is a DAMN GOOD CR!

mba1382 · Answer

Here is the OA along with OE that I got after searching

The best answer choice is the second one (we'll call it B). The argument concludes that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between listening to classical music and getting restful sleep. But this conclusion is based merely on the statistical correlation cited in the first sentence. One way to discredit the conclusion is to provide evidence that something else results in restful sleep. That’s exactly what choice (B) accomplishes, by pointing out another possible cause: bedtime reading.

The statement in the first answer choice (we'll call it A) accomplishes little, if anything, toward weakening the argument, which compares listening to music — specifically, classical music — to watching television, not to reading.

The statement in the third answer choice (we'll call it C) actually strengthens the argument by providing additional evidence that watching television before bedtime results in restless sleep.

The statement in the fourth answer choice (we'll call it D) would weaken the argument only if listening to classical music is more mentally stimulating than watching television. However, the argument provides no evidence to substantiate this crucial assumption.

The statement in the fifth answer choice (we'll call it E) is irrelevant to the argument, which seeks to compare a person’s environment just before bedtime, not during sleep.

Really good question. I too fell for C but then realized I made a basic mistake in cause-effect relation.

I too agree it is B.

tarunk31 · Answer

An avid television viewer is statistically more likely to take sleeping pills at bedtime than a person who enjoys listening to classical music but does not watch television as a habit. Clearly, listening to classical music just before bedtime contributes to a more restful night’s sleep, whereas watching television before bedtime has the opposite effect.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the above argument?

(A) Reading a book before bedtime contributes to restful sleep more than listening to music does. 
 Irrelevant as comparison is not between reading a book and listening to music.
 (B) People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime.
 This cast a doubt that reading before bedtime rather than classical music contributes towards restful sleep.
 (C) Sleeplessness is more common among people who watch late-night television than among people who do not.
 This supports the argument rather than weakening it.
 (D) Engaging in a bedtime activity that is mentally stimulating often interferes with a person’s ability to fall asleep. 
 This is out of scope. Mentally stimulating activity is not discussed here.
 (E) A silent environment is less conducive to restful sleep than an environment with calming ambient sounds. 
 This is also out of scope.

kaustav04 · Answer

"Clearly, listening to classical music just before bedtime contributes to a more restful night???s sleep, whereas watching television before bedtime has the opposite effect."

Why is B the correct option. Aren't we only talking about Music and TV. 
The author concludes that music, just before bedtime, contributes to a 'more' restful sleep. Nowhere has s/he mentioned that Music is the best remedy for a good night's sleep. no?

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi Kaustav

Let us analyze the stimulus as given:

Conclusion:  Clearly, listening to classical music just before bedtime contributes to a more restful night’s sleep, whereas watching television before bedtime has the opposite effect.
 Premise (Why):  An avid television viewer is statistically more likely to take sleeping pills at bedtime than a person who enjoys listening to classical music but does not watch television as a habit.

Please note that there is a subtle language shift in the stimulus. The premise only talks about watching TV and listening to classical music as habits, whereas the conclusion talks about doing these activities  just before bedtime . We do not know if those who have these habits do these activities just before bedtime.

Now, in an X --> Y scenario, there can be a few possibilities:

a) It is not X that causes Y, but  an alternate explanation  Z which causes Y.
b)  Reverse causality  ie; it is not X -- Y but Y --> X.
c)  Correlation  ie; a third variable Z causes both X and Y.

Since this is a weaken the argument question, we are looking for one of the above possibilities.

Option (B) states: People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime.

Now this clearly provides a third variable (read books before bedtime) which is correlated with both X (classical music) and potentially Y (restful sleep) because this removes the language shift in the premise ie; the reading of books is done just before bedtime. Therefore, this option could very well weaken the conclusion made in the stimulus. Among the given answer options, this is the only one with this possibility and hence is the correct answer.

Hope this helps.

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

(A) Reading a book before bedtime contributes to restful sleep more than listening to music does.
This doesn't help us determine the contribution since the differece is relative

(B) People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime.
This weakens as reading is contributing to the sleepiness and not music itself

(C) Sleeplessness is more common among people who watch late-night television than among people who do not.
It doesn't have any impact just restating the premise of the argument

(D) Engaging in a bedtime activity that is mentally stimulating often interferes with a person’s ability to fall asleep.
Yes this strengthens the argument

(E) A silent environment is less conducive to restful sleep than an environment with calming ambient sound
However this does't help us determine as of why Movie watching hinders

hence IMO B hope it helps

licrolicro · Answer

The argument claims that listening to classical music before bedtime contributes to better sleep, while watching television has the opposite effect, based on the correlation between television viewing and higher sleeping pill usage. To weaken this argument, we need to find an alternative explanation for why avid TV viewers might take more sleeping pills—one that doesn't involve TV itself causing worse sleep.
Key Weakener:

We need a choice that suggests the correlation doesn't imply causation—i.e., something else about TV viewers (not TV itself) explains their higher sleeping pill usage.
Evaluating the Options:

(A) Irrelevant. The argument compares TV vs. music, not reading vs. music.

(B) Weakens slightly by suggesting classical music lovers might read (another calming activity), but doesn't directly challenge the TV-sleep connection.

(C) Strengthens the argument by reinforcing the idea that TV disrupts sleep.

(D) Strong weakener. If TV is mentally stimulating (e.g., exciting shows, news), that—not TV itself—could explain sleep issues. This breaks the causal link.

(E) Irrelevant. The argument isn't about silent vs. ambient sound environments.

Best Choice:

(D) directly undermines the argument by proposing that the type of TV content (mentally stimulating) causes sleep issues, not TV itself. This introduces an alternative explanation for the correlation.

Final Answer: D

An avid television viewer is statistically more likely to take sleepin

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