In America, cooking generally involves the use of veg oil

Question

In America, cooking generally involves the use of vegetable oil while the French prefer butter overwhelmingly. Since butter comprises saturated fat while vegetable oil is mostly unsaturated fat, the French should suffer more frequently from cardiovascular troubles. However, the average American is far more prone to suffer from cardiovascular troubles.

Which of the following is an assumption involved in the argument above?

A. Consumption of unsaturated fat at a high rate leads to cardiovascular troubles.

B. Regular consumption of even a small amount of saturated fat leads to cardiovascular troubles.

C. Consumption of saturated fat contributes more to the development of cardiovascular troubles than the consumption of unsaturated fat does.

D. Human beings must be focused on self preservation and, hence, should try to avoid cardiovascular trouble.

E. Development of troublesome cardiovascular conditions is inevitable after a certain age has been attained.

Posted from my mobile device

Archit3110 · Answer

conclusion of the argument : the average American is far more prone to suffer from cardiovascular troubles where as French have been consuming more oil which can get them heart issues

option C ; Consumption of saturated fat contributes  less  to the development of cardiovascular troubles than the consumption of unsaturated fat does.
negation

talk2anish · Answer

what is the role of the below line in the passage ?

"However, the average American is far more prone to suffer from cardiovascular troubles."

uofidhe · Answer

But the answer choice says "more" so how did you arrive at "less" in your analysis. The "more" part made me choose something else. Isn't the assumption that something else other than the expected is responsible for the increased rate of cardiovascular problem in Americans.

AkshdeepS · Answer

Which of the following is an assumption involved in the argument above?

A. Consumption of unsaturated fat at a high rate leads to cardiovascular troubles.

Rate of consumption is not a valid assumption in our case. We don't know how much saturated fat the French consumes.
 
B. Regular consumption of even a small amount of saturated fat leads to cardiovascular troubles.

Irrelevant

C. Consumption of saturated fat contributes more to the development of cardiovascular troubles than the consumption of unsaturated fat does.

This is what author is assuming. Irrespective of the quantity and frequency of eating, author believes that saturated fats are more dangerous than unsaturated fats.

Remember, we have to choose best among the available choices.

D. Human beings must be focused on self preservation and, hence, should try to avoid cardiovascular trouble.

Out of scope

E. Development of troublesome cardiovascular conditions is inevitable after a certain age has been attained.

Out of scope

yashika001 · Answer

Can someone explain what is the conclusion in this question?

To me: Conclusion is ," However, the average American is far more prone to suffer from cardiovascular troubles."

American though using vegetable oil "unsaturated fat" is more prone to cardiovascular troubles than french people who use saturated fat .

How option C seems to justify this reasoning ??

Sophievelider · Answer

Conclusion is starts from since saturated and we have to find a hidden premise means why author made that statement. If you look at option A. Which can't be a reasoning or a ground for author. B. This statement is totally irrelevant to the conclusion or the premise. C. It's the right assumption as it says and support our conclusion that consumption of saturated fat contribute more to cardiovascular disease and other two are totally irrelevant.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

Sophievelider · Answer

Conclusion is starts from since saturated and we have to find a hidden premise means why author made that statement. If you look at option A. Which can't be a reasoning or a ground for author. B. This statement is totally irrelevant to the conclusion or the premise. C. It's the right assumption as it says and support our conclusion that consumption of saturated fat contribute more to cardiovascular disease and other two are totally irrelevant.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

This argument doesn't make any assumptions because it doesn't have a conclusion. The only thing that resembles an opinion is the "should" part, but that's a prediction that is negated by the evidence the author presents in the same sentence. It's kind of like saying "The accident should have killed me, but I survived." That first part is not a conclusion--it's just a setup to help you understand why the part that follows is weird.

So basically, the text is the setup for a discrepancy question. They could ask us to find a piece of information that helped make sense of the seeming disparity. But there is no assumption to be had, because this isn't an argument at all.

So basically, the text is the setup for a discrepancy question. They could ask us to find a piece of information that helped make sense of the seeming disparity. But there is no assumption to be had, because this isn't an argument at all.

nsequeira · Answer

it's just there to increase the difficulty of the question, the right option would not change if that line was not there

sarkarsarbani · Answer

Why is the answer not optionA bcs in last sentence they have mentioned 'However, the average American is far more prone to suffer from cardiovascular troubles.' which can mean that if we consume more unsaturated fat then it leads to cardiovascular disease.

guddo · Answer

In America, cooking generally involves the use of vegetable oil while the French prefer butter overwhelmingly. Since butter comprises saturated fat while vegetable oil is mostly unsaturated fat, the French should suffer more frequently from cardiovascular troubles. However, the average American is far more prone to suffer from cardiovascular troubles.
 
 Which of the following is an assumption involved in the argument above?

The argument expects the French to have more cardiovascular trouble because they consume more butter, which contains saturated fat.  The hidden assumption  is that saturated fat is more harmful for cardiovascular health than  unsaturated fat .

(A) Consumption of unsaturated fat at a high rate leads to cardiovascular troubles.

This is not the assumption. The argument does not claim that unsaturated fat causes cardiovascular trouble. It contrasts unsaturated fat with saturated fat.

(B) Regular consumption of even a small amount of saturated fat leads to cardiovascular troubles.

This is too strong. The argument does not need to assume that even a small amount of saturated fat is harmful.

(C) Consumption of saturated fat contributes more to the development of cardiovascular troubles than the consumption of unsaturated fat does.

This is correct. Without this assumption, the argument would have no reason to expect the French, who use more butter, to suffer more cardiovascular trouble than Americans, who use more vegetable oil.

(D) Human beings must be focused on self preservation and, hence, should try to avoid cardiovascular trouble.

This is irrelevant. The argument is about what causes cardiovascular trouble, not about what people should try to avoid.

(E) Development of troublesome cardiovascular conditions is inevitable after a certain age has been attained.

This is irrelevant. The argument compares Americans and the French based on fat consumption, not age.

Answer: (C)

laborumpossimus · Answer

I chose A because I thought that since Americans primarily consume unsaturated fat and still have more cardiovascular problems, unsaturated fat must somehow contribute to cardiovascular problems.

I understand why C is relevant because the argument expects the French, who consume more saturated fat, to have more cardiovascular problems if saturated fat is more harmful than unsaturated fat.

However, I???m confused about how C works given that Americans are consuming a different type of fat. If saturated fat contributes more to cardiovascular problems, why does the fact that Americans have more cardiovascular problems create a contradiction? Couldn???t Americans have other risk factors that explain their higher rate?

So I???m having trouble understanding why C is a necessary assumption while A is not.

egmat · Answer

Hi laborumpossimus,

Your instinct is very reasonable, and you're right that Americans  could  have other risk factors. The trick is spotting  which sentence the assumption actually props up.

You're treating the last line - "the average American is far more prone" - as the claim that needs support, and then reaching for A to explain it. But that "however" line isn't the argument's reasoning; it's the  surprise twist . The reasoning you have to back up is the earlier prediction:

"...the French  should  suffer more frequently from cardiovascular troubles."

Ask yourself:  why does the author expect the French to suffer more?  Only because the French eat butter (saturated fat). For that expectation to make any sense, saturated fat has to be  worse for the heart than unsaturated fat  - which is exactly  C .

The negation test makes this clean:

- Negate C - saturated fat contributes  less than or equal to  unsaturated fat. Now there's no reason at all to predict the French would suffer more. The whole "should" collapses. That's what makes C  necessary .
- Negate A - unsaturated fat does  not  cause trouble. Does the prediction about the French collapse? No - it doesn't touch it.

Why A is actually pointed the wrong way:  the argument treats vegetable oil (unsaturated) as the  safer  option - that's the entire basis for expecting the French, not the Americans, to be worse off. A says unsaturated fat  causes  trouble, which cuts against the author's own logic instead of supporting it.

On your "other risk factors" thought: that's a great idea - but it would explain the  discrepancy  in the last sentence, which is a different job. It has nothing to do with the assumption behind the author's original prediction.

Turn one knob to feel it:

"Runners  should  be fitter than swimmers because running burns more calories. But swimmers are fitter."

The buried assumption is  running burns more calories than swimming  (a comparison) - not  swimming burns calories.  Same shape as here: the assumption lives under the  prediction , and it's always  comparative . That's why C, not A.

Answer: C

laborumpossimus · Answer

hi 
thank you so much i understand the logic now

nawal_slg · Answer

Great Explanation by E GMAT. It makes a lot of sense now as to how to figure out the conclusion in such a complex sentence.

In America, cooking generally involves the use of veg oil

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

In America, cooking generally involves the use of veg oil

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards