V07-35

Question

An avid television viewer is statistically more likely to take sleeping pills at bedtime than someone who enjoys listening to classical music and avoids watching television just before bedtime. Clearly, listening to classical music just before bedtime contributes to a more restful night's sleep, while watching television right before bedtime tends to have the opposite effect.
 
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the above argument?

A. People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime. 
B. Reading a book right before bedtime contributes to restful sleep more than listening to music does. 
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.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Solution:

An avid television viewer is statistically more likely to take sleeping pills at bedtime than someone who enjoys listening to classical music and avoids watching television just before bedtime. Clearly, listening to classical music just before bedtime contributes to a more restful night's sleep, while watching television right before bedtime tends to have the opposite effect.
 
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the above argument?

A. People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime. 
B. Reading a book right before bedtime contributes to restful sleep more than listening to music does. 
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.

A. Correct.  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 might result in restful sleep. That’s exactly what option A accomplishes, by pointing out another possible cause: bedtime reading. 
 
Please note that the strengthen / weaken questions need not ensure the conclusion (or the error in the conclusion). It should in some way (even if something needs to be assumed) strengthen or weaken. The assumption questions are "must be true" type, but not strengthen / weaken ones. Option A implies that there MAY be some other reason that causes sound sleep - this is good enough to weaken the argument. (It is not required that there MUST be some other reason.) The following example may be useful to understand the reasoning better:
 
All students of grade 7-A have scored very well. Ms. Danny is their class teacher. She must have taught them very well. Now, what can make me doubt Ms. Danny's role? What if I were told, "All students of grade 7-A take extra classes with Ms. Veronica." Will that make me doubt my conclusion? Yes. I will wonder - is Ms Danny a very good teacher or is it that Ms. Veronica did a great job? It will make me think that my conclusion about Ms Danny may not be valid. That is all we need to do - weaken our conclusion, cast doubt on the conclusion.
 
Similarly, we are not given that reading leads to better sleep. We don't need to establish it either. We just have to make ourselves doubt the conclusion.
 
B. Option B must not be mixed up with option A and must be examined independently. Option B draws a comparison between reading books and listening to music. It does not weaken the conclusion of the original passage, which deals with listening to music and watching television. Option B is a supporting statement for option A, which in turn is a weakening statement for the original passage. However, in absence of option A (i.e., independent of option A), option B is not a weakening statement for the original passage.
 
C. Option C might look tempting at a first look because it appears to establish a reverse causal relationship, but actually it does not. If the statement were something like the one below, then option C would be a weakening statement:
 
"People who cannot sleep at night watch television to pass time"...such a statement establishes a reverse causal relationship, thereby weakening the forward causal relationship.
 
However option C implies another correlation, but not a reverse causation.
 
Moreover option C strengthens a part of the inference: "...whereas watching television before bedtime has the opposite effect". It is a strengthening statement, not a weakening.
 
D. This option is out of context because it has not been defined, which activities are stimulating and which are not.
 
E. Option E is also out of context. The argument is about two things: whether listening to classical music is conducive to restful sleep and whether watching television is not. Option E does not deal with any of these two.

Answer: A

Raxit85 · Answer

VeritasKarishma , (tagging you as you told in response to my PM)

I narrowed down two options and ultimately chosen wrong one (as usual), i.e. A and B. I chose B as an answer but it is wrong. There is slight variation between option A and B, A mentions about people who enjoys music and B does not mention about such people, rather gives general idea. Here, i fall for the trap. Can you please suggest how to avoid such mistakes?

Regards,
Raxit.

KarishmaB · Answer

Absolutely  Raxit85 ! Tag me whenever you need help on any question.

TV viewers are more likely to take sleeping pills than classical music listeners.

Conclusion: Listening to classical music just before bedtime contributes to a more restful night’s sleep, whereas watching television before bedtime has the opposite effect

Based on the statistics, we are concluding that classical music leads to restful sleep while watching TV spoils sleep. 
We need to weaken the conclusion.

A. People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime.

This tells us that classical music listeners have other good habits which could be the cause of better sleep. They read at bedtime and that could be why they have better sleep. Then our conclusion is not correct. Listening to classical music may not be what contributes to restful sleep. It could be the habit of reading at night.

B. Reading a book before bedtime contributes to restful sleep more than listening to music does.

This option, though it looks like (A), is very different from (A). We are not weakening that classical music leads to restful sleep. We are saying here that reading a book leads to even more restful sleep. 
Forget option (A) for the time being. Read the argument again and then read option (B) directly. The argument is discussing "Tv watchers vs Music listeners". This option says that reading a book is even better than listening to music. That is irrelevant to our argument. It is talking about a third set of people - those who read. We are only comparing music listeners with TV watchers. The test setter has very smartly put this option right after option (A) to confuse the test taker. 
Now, go back to option (A). Why is that not irrelevant? Because it says that music listeners read before sleeping. So it is still talking about the same group that concerns us - music listeners - and it gives another quality of theirs which actually could be the cause. That is why (A) is correct.

C. Sleeplessness is more common among people who watch late-night television than among people who do not.

We are not concerned about late night TV watchers. We don't know how many people out of our group of interest do that.

D. Engaging in a bedtime activity that is mentally stimulating often interferes with a person’s ability to fall asleep.

Not relevant. We have no idea which activity metal stimulates and which doesn't.

E. A silent environment is less conducive to restful sleep than an environment with calming ambient sounds.

Again, not relevant. What kind of environment is good for sleep, we don't care.

Answer (A)

Raxit85 · Answer

VeritasKarishma

Thank you!!

Still one query in option A.

A. People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime.

This tells us that classical music listeners have other good habits which could be the cause of better sleep. T hey read at bedtime and that could be why they have better sleep.  Then our conclusion is not correct. Listening to classical music may not be what contributes to restful sleep. It could be the habit of reading at night.

How can we justify the relationship between reading and restful sleep as it is not given nor it can be inferred in the passage although it's general truth for most people?

Regards,
Raxit.

KarishmaB · Answer

No, we are not given that reading leads to better sleep. We don't need to establish it either. We just have to make ourselves doubt the conclusion. We don't have to establish that the conclusion is false and that there is another cause of good sleep. It is something like this:

All students of grade 7-A have scored very well. Ms. Danny is their class teacher. She must have taught them very well.

Now, what can make me doubt Ms. Danny's role? What if I were told, "All students of grade 7-A take extra classes with Ms. Veronica."
Will that make me doubt my conclusion? Yes. I will wonder - is Ms Danny a very good teacher or is it that Ms Veronica did a great job? It will make me think that my conclusion about Ms Danny may not be valid. That is all we need to do - weaken our conclusion, cast doubt on the conclusion.

Bunuel · Answer

The question or/and solution has been revised and edited. Thank you  sayantanc2k / KarishmaB  !!!

Gemmie · Answer

Argument Analysis:The argument states that listening to classical music before bedtime contributes to a more restful night's sleep, while watching television has the opposite effect. This conclusion is based on the observation that avid television viewers are more likely to take sleeping pills than those who listen to classical music.

A. People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime.

This option weakens the argument because it introduces a confounding variable: reading before bedtime. If people who enjoy classical music also tend to read before bed, then it is possible that reading, not listening to classical music, is the factor contributing to their restful sleep. This challenges the argument's claim that classical music is the primary factor for better sleep.

Evaluation of Other Options:

B. Reading a book before bedtime contributes to restful sleep more than listening to music does. 
This suggests another activity that could contribute to restful sleep but does not directly address the comparison between television watching and classical music listening.

C. Sleeplessness is more common among people who watch late-night television than among people who do not. 
This supports the argument by suggesting that watching television negatively affects sleep.

D. Engaging in a bedtime activity that is mentally stimulating often interferes with a person’s ability to fall asleep. 
This is a general statement that does not specifically address the comparison made in the argument between television and classical music.

E. A silent environment is less conducive to restful sleep than an environment with calming ambient sounds. 
This does not directly weaken the argument since it does not address the specific activities of watching television or listening to classical music.

hitesharyan · Answer

I think this is a  high-quality  question and I agree with explanation. Although option A is the best among the 5, I would like to point out a slight conundrum that deterred me from choosing option A in a single go. 
The passage mentions that 'classical music just before bedtime contributes to a more restful night’s sleep' and option A says that 'People who enjoy classical music typically like to read just before bedtime'. Please notice the use of the phrase 'just before bedtime' in both instances. This suggested to me that option A is somewhat going against the premise of the passage and hence not the correct answer.

bb · Answer

Thank you. I have added right before bedtime to the books as I guess before bedtime even though it is implied to be soon before bedtime, could technically mean in the afternoon since afternoon is before bedtime.

Saksham337 · Answer

I think this is a  high-quality  question and I agree with explanation. Excellent example of a trap question where people would tend to go with "formulae" such as word matching or prima facie reverse causal relationship.

Jayant9090 · Answer

I was not full convinced with option "C" as it was not actual reversal of causation of statement given in argument.

Also, with option "A", it says that they read but ( My Reasoning ) it doesn't specify whether it will help with sleep or not.
I have to assume additionally that it helps and then i can say for sure that it is reading that helps not enjoying classical music before bedtime.

What i understood later while reviewing the question was-

Now what this does is, give one more aspect to look at whoever is giving conclusion and now they have to prove it wrong before say for sure that It is classical music that helps not something else (Reading/working out/ ......) i.e. more like flagging one more possibility.

Please correct me if i am wrong somewhere.

Arunava7393 · Answer

I like the solution - it’s helpful. Amazing question really. I wonder what the source is. I learned so much from this one question. I studied it for a whole day actually. V 90 must be achieved.

Bunuel · Answer

Questions in GMAT Club Tests are written in-house by the GMAT Club team.

sanyuktabhattad · Answer

Sleeplessness is more common among people who watch late-night television than among people who do not.

Doesn't this mean that sleeplessness causes people watching television and reverse the cause-effect relationship?

hr1212 · Answer

I don’t think that’s the correct interpretation. If I have to rephrase it in my own words, it would be - “People who watch late night television experience sleeplessness more than people who do not watch late night television”. This maintains the exact cause and effect of the argument and hence would be a strengthener rather than a weakener.

bb · Answer

Thank you  Jayant9090 ,

You are trying to find an alternative cause/explanation rather than weaken/cast doubt. This is a subtle weakener (one of the lightest ones) and it does not require you to assume that reading helps sleep. It could even say "doing jumping jacks" - all we know is that people who listen to classical music before sleep also tend to do 100 jumping jack exercises as well right before going to bed. Jumping jacks are not known to help you fall asleep but still this statistical correlation is going to cast a doubt (very subtle) but still a doubt on the conclusion. If other choices are not doing it more strongly, then we can pick this one.

bb · Answer

It is an interesting trap and flaw that is being tested here. It is really done for learning experience rather than score determination, so if you got caught by this question, take it as a learning experience even if you dinged your score.

Vivek1707 · Answer

This is a great question that’s helpful for learning. C - I marked this but i understand that this can be interpreted in two ways

This can be a weakner

If A causes ---> B i.e if TV impacts restful sleep in a negetive way

This answer choices could imply that people who suffer from sleeplessness ----> more likely to watch TV. So its B causes A

This answer choice can also strengthen. If sleepeness is more common among people who watch late night TV ----> then it would mean that it is possible that watching TV impacts restful sleep in a negetive way

Since this reasoning in C can go in either way, A is a better answer

Would be great if some expert could validate my reasoning for rejecting C

SanketPatil · Answer

I did not quite understand the solution. As per question it is given 'Clearly, listening to classical music just before bedtime contributes....' . The situation that is exactly stated is listening classical music just before bed time. While option A refers a different situation where book is read before bed time -> given both situation are different, i don't think so this is right comparison or any of the option correctly justify weakening the conclusion. Because it is still possible that listening classical music just before bed time could be better

V07-35

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