Researchers have discovered that a quick study of

Question

Researchers have discovered that a quick study of the hands — more specifically, the lengths of the index and ring fingers — can reveal a lot about a person’s personality and risk of disease. Of course, your fingers don’t actually control these issues; it’s closer to the other way around.

Which of the following statements is best supported by the above information?

A.The larger the difference in the length of the index fingers and ring fingers, the clearer the understanding of the person’s personality that can be achieved through the study of hands.
B.The lengths of the ring and index fingers are expected to be different for people with different personalities.
C.It is difficult to ascertain through the study of hands the personality and disposition to disease of a person with almost no difference in the length of index and ring fingers.
D.Other fingers, except the ring and index fingers, do not provide much information about a person’s personality and risk of disease.
E.A person’s personality and risk of disease is generally controlled by the length of the index and ring fingers.

sandysilva · Answer

The question says that your fingers dont control the personality and disease. it must be other way round.

So will go with B.

TaN1213 · Answer

Nice question. Will go with B.
 Skywalker18 , I believe option C has a typo of double usage of 'in the length'.

AM13 · Answer

Why can't the answer be option D. please elaborate on the same. Thankyou

aragonn · Answer

May be other then I and R, rest of the hand give some info but not the rest of the fingers. D can't be answer.

Correct ans can be B only. researchers are looking into the length of fingers and finding different personality. that can be possible only if length is different.

abhigulia3006 · Answer

I am a bit confused between options B and D. Both the options seem correct. Could someone please elaborate the reason for eliminating option D.

aragonn · Answer

D: I think you should read stem again. is anything given about other fingers ? answer of Question asked in D is - may be may be not , sufficient info is not given.
B: read the explanation above, if any doubt ask specific question.

AdityaHongunti · Answer

I would go with D.
choices B and D are the only ones to focus on.

more specifically, the lengths of the index and ring fingers — can reveal a lot about a person’s personality and risk of disease.

B says - the lengths of the ring and index fingers are expected to be different for people with different personalities.
This can be an assumption. The question asks us to pick an answer most strongly supported by, i.e. inference. Option B assumes by using the word expected.

D says -Other fingers, except the ring and index fingers, do not provide   much information   about a person’s personality and risk of disease.
Now much information  does not  mean no information. They do provide information but not as much as the index and ring.
The passage clearly states - quick study of the hands —  more specifically , the lengths of the index and ring fingers — can reveal a lot about a person’s personality and risk of disease. 
This means that the lengths of the duo provide more info than those of others. Otherwise ,why would the author mention the word "MORE SPECIFICALLY " ?

We have to choose an answer best supported by. B is an assumption for the researchers. There can be plenty of assumptions. But between these 2 ,D is well supported.

aragonn · Answer

true , but how you are sure that other traits are in other fingers ??? may be it is about spots on palm or depth of palm. this does not mean other fingers for sure. and neither does it is saying it can't be these fingers.

All I am aying that you don't have sufficient information to conclude this fact. when such situation arises we keep the answer false.

AdityaHongunti · Answer

My friend that is what I am trying to tell you. I am not contesting that my choice is 100% correct and is undisputable. All I'm trying to say is the question asks us " most strongly supported " . If we stick to the passage and not go out of context we can spot the author's emphasis on those two fingers. My only question to you would be why would the author emphasize those 2 fingers by saying " more specifically " ? . You are absolutely right at challenging the answer choice by countering it with other possible scenarios but amongst all the 5 choices D is the MOST SUPPORTED .

Your choice B - is more of an assumption. If you can contest choice D my friend there are even more possible situations which can break choice B. Think over it.

IMO D is "most supported" . not undisputable.

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aragonn · Answer

Ok Fine. How about you answer me this? What you make out of following sentence ?
"the lengths of the index and ring fingers --- gives some info of personality" ---- Difference in personality, difference in length on I and R. assumption will be when I say greater the difference better the personality. think of it this way. What if difference in length of I and R for everyone is same, now how you will correlate their different personality to this ???

I think answer will be B. yes for sure it is also an assumption. but is it a fact ??? In any kind of situation is can be wrong ???

When I am answering all these kind of question for D , I am finding that D can be wrong in many possible ways. D is not a Fact. This is an inference question . we need an answer that is absolutely true in any condition.

AdityaHongunti · Answer

So you mean to say we cannot counter the option B

Let me give it a shot.

Author says- "more specifically - the lengths of index and ring finger TELLS A LOT ABOUT THE PERSONALITY AND .... "

NOWHERE has he mentioned that different lengths have different personalities. Let alone the application of real life situation which will surely break answer choice B. From where did you infer or from which statement or what part of the passage tells you about the difference my friend? Two people can have same lengths and still have different personalities or 2 people can different lengths and have same personalities. The most important part is THERE IS NO MENTION OF DIFFERENCE between personalities with respect to lengths. New information is allowed in inference questions ONLY IF THEY FIT THE GIVEN CONTEXT. Your answer is a pure assumption which does not even have a conclusion. The author says- researchers discovered that a quick reading of the hands can tell a lot about a personality. Where do you infer the difference my Friend. If realistically speaking me and my brother have completely different hands let alone the lengths, but our personalities are like the sun and the moon.

Yes option B does quality as a contender, but option D sticks to the passage and derives a true statement out of the passage. I'm still trying to tell you that the option does not say "ONLY these 2 fingers give info " , the option says " others do not give MUCH INFO " . Yes the option mentions only fingers but this option is playing within the boundaries of the context.

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aragonn · Answer

My friend you have again taken it in wrong direction. I used difference just to give an example. choice B is given below.

The lengths of the ring and index fingers are expected to be different for people with different personalities.

Now remove the difference in length(forget it for a while) and give it one more shot. just consider individual length of two fingers independently. I think you are close and you will get it this time.

AdityaHongunti · Answer

How do I ignore the difference. Even if I did how am I to consider the choice. Please proceed with your idea. I'll try to comprehend what you want to say

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aragonn · Answer

let just say Ram has length of these fingers as x and y respectively , while Raj has the same as p and q respectively. 
let just say x!=p;y!=q but x-y == p-q

now go through choice B again. and deduce the same info again. Can you say Ram and Raj have same personality ?
only x, y (in that order) is what we are looking for to be sure of same personality.

push12345 · Answer

Answer is B

In question it is mentioned it's the other way around.It simply means length of fingers don't influence personality instead person personality has influence on his fingers.

So persons with different personalities have different length of fingers not the other way.

Also we are not considered about other fingers. So D is wrong.

E is quite tempting but it does not address main point.

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A_Nishith · Answer

Let's analyze each option based on the provided information:

Provided Information: 
1) The lengths of the index and ring fingers can reveal information about a person’s personality and risk of disease.
2) The fingers themselves do not control personality or disease risk; rather, the correlation works in the opposite direction.

Options Analysis:

A. The larger the difference in the length of the index fingers and ring fingers, the clearer the understanding of the person’s personality that can be achieved through the study of hands.

The passage does not mention that a larger difference specifically leads to a clearer understanding. It only states that the lengths can reveal information.

B. The lengths of the ring and index fingers are expected to be different for people with different personalities.

This is plausible based on the passage, as it suggests that finger lengths can reveal information about personality, implying there could be differences for people with different personalities.

C. It is difficult to ascertain through the study of hands the personality and disposition to disease of a person with almost no difference in the length of index and ring fingers.

The passage does not mention any difficulty in ascertaining information if the finger lengths are similar. It only states that the lengths can reveal information.

D. Other fingers, except the ring and index fingers, do not provide much information about a person’s personality and risk of disease.

The passage only focuses on the index and ring fingers, not mentioning other fingers. While it implies that these two fingers are significant, it doesn't explicitly say other fingers do not provide much information.

E. A person’s personality and risk of disease is generally controlled by the length of the index and ring fingers.

This directly contradicts the passage, which states that fingers do not control these issues but are related to them in an opposite manner.

Conclusion: 
 The best-supported statement by the information given is: B.  The lengths of the ring and index fingers are expected to be different for people with different personalities.
--> This aligns with the idea that finger lengths can reveal differences in personality, implying variations in lengths correlate with personality traits.

“‘Make it easy for yourself. Get organized and live in the moment. Your day-to-day activities should not steal your happiness.” – Bhagavad Gita

Feb2024 · Answer

IanStewart MartyMurray KarishmaB GMATNinja

Hello Experts! I am torn between Options A & B. Both seem reasonably inferable from the Argument.

Or is Option A a correct choice if we were to Strengthen the argument?

Please provide your insight. Thanks in advance

IanStewart · Answer

I wouldn't pay much attention to this question, because its logic is questionable, and it uses language imprecisely. But answer A is not an inference here -- in the stem we learn that the index and ring fingers tell us about personality, but we do not learn how they tell us about personality. So we don't know if the difference in the lengths of those fingers is the characteristic that tells us about personality, and we cannot infer answer A. You are right that A would be a more compelling choice if this were reworked as a strengthening question.

Feb2024

IanStewart MartyMurray KarishmaB GMATNinja

Hello Experts! I am torn between Options A & B. Both seem reasonably inferable from the Argument.

Or is Option A a correct choice if we were to Strengthen the argument?

Please provide your insight. Thanks in advance

Feb2024 · Answer

Thank You very much  IanStewart  and  MartyMurray

I must say that whenever I repost such questions where I find the question faulty or problematic and you think along the same lines, it reinforces my confidence on my preparation.

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