Chinese restaurants that offer free jasmine tea with meals do better b

Question

Chinese restaurants that offer free jasmine tea with meals do better business than similar Chinese restaurants that do not offer it for free. But since restaurants offering this free-tea are more likely to offer food that doesn’t contain MSG, a substance that is blamed for causing severe headaches in some people after consuming Chinese food, it is the repeat business of MSG allergic patrons that is responsible for higher business and not the attraction of free-tea.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above?

A. Although MSG is a taste enhancer, some people cannot make out the difference between the food prepared with and without it.

B. No study has been able to prove a conclusive relation between MSG and the associated headaches with consuming Chinese food.

C. A large majority of the customers of the Chinese restaurants offering free jasmine tea don’t end up requesting jasmine tea.

D. Most restaurants that do not offer free jasmine tea end up not charging less than the usual price for the same when ordered by patrons.

E. Some customers at Chinese restaurants which do not offer free jasmine tea complain of severe headaches right after having a meal at those restaurants

egmat · Accepted Answer

Hi gmat2014cat, Thank you for sharing your analysis.

However, option E is not correct. Option E says "Some customers at Chinese restaurants which do not offer free jasmine tea complain of severe headaches right after having a meal at those restaurants" Now, from the passage, we already know that Chinese restaurants which do not offer jasmine tea for free are more likely to offer food containing MSG. Right? We also know that MSG is a substance that is blamed for causing severe headaches in some people. Now, look at the above facts from the passage and look at option E. Does option E provide any new information that can impact the argument? (Remember, one of the key requirements of a strengthener is that it should provide new information compared to the information given in the passage) The answer is No. If MSG causes severe headaches and food contains MSG, then at least some people are definitely expected to have such headaches due to food (The timing does not matter; what matters is that whether headaches are due to food or not. We already know from the passage that headache can be due to food. So, we don't get any useful info from option E) Now, let's look at option C: While rejecting option C, you are assuming that a person doesn't even need to order or request "free items" (for the first time). They are just given to him. It may not be the case. Rather, on the contrary, even if a restaurant offers something for free, it should only give that item to someone who is actually interested in the same and not to everybody. Right? In that case, if people don't even request or order jasmine tea, it means they are not even interested in jasmine tea. If they are not interested in jasmine tea, it means they didn't come for it. Right? It indicates that they probably came for MSG-free food. This is how option C strengthens the argument. Does it help? Regards, Chiranjeev PS: To avoid a discussion on "dictionary meaning of order", I have replaced the word "order" with "request" in the original question.

aditya8062 · Answer

C seems best  :  A large majority of the customers of the Chinese restaurants offering free jasmine tea don’t end up ordering jasmine tea

why C and not E : C is strengthening the argument from the point of view of those restaurants who offer free tea also .also option C uses "A large majority of the customers" .on the other hand E uses "Some customers at Chinese restaurants" ---->now "some" of the customer who suffer of severe headaches right after having a meal at those restaurants which do not offer free jasmine tea might be suffering because of some other reason!! lets say those "some" customers might be suffering of constipation, which might be causing headaches !!

gmat2014cat · Answer

According to me option E is correct....

A--->Argument has nothing to do with differentiating the food which do contain taste enhancer and which do not contain
B--->weakens
C--->if they are getting jasmine tea for free why do they order again, and reason should be headache or MSG but not jasmine tea in order to strengthen the argument 
D--->price of the food is out of scope
E--->severe headache immediately after having food means, headache can be due to food

rj12 · Answer

My answer is E. A -> Its a assumption that MSG is a taste enhancer, so not true. B -> Out of context C -> Seems to be logical with the real world, but not in GMAT world :-D

. I think this is how we fall into traps. D -> Its only an assumption E -> It clearly states in the above arguments that "restaurants offering this free-tea are more likely to offer food that doesn’t contain MSG", So this is the one which strengthens the argument.

DesiGmat · Answer

highlighted part seems to be your assumption on the argument.
though it is mentioned in the argument
MSG, a substance that is blamed for causing severe headaches in some people after consuming Chinese food
and I suppose you must of spotted "Some" in the above statement

Let's wait for the OA

Let's wait for the OA.

JusTLucK04 · Answer

C is the best choice...Although they are offered for free doesn't mean they are served everytime..You have to request for the same
E- It is a common strengthen Q trap...rephrase a premise..It doesn't add value to the question as it is already known that some allergic people suffer from headaches after having food at the restaurant...

aditya8062 · Answer

DESI GMAT WROTE:

i am not sure as why u have written this ? but i had just given the explanation of why E is wrong .

nm855 · Answer

My two cents here:

Conclusion: It is the repeat business of msg allergic business patrons that is responsible for higher business and 'not the attraction of the free tea'.

C option clearly strengthens that the customers are not even ordering the tea and still coming to the restaurant.

So identify the conclusion "not coming for tea" is strengthened by option C....

Hope this makes sense....

Let me know if this deserves a kudos

Posted from my mobile device

Gaagi1406 · Answer

---------------------------------------------------------------
thanks egmat
i do have a query for the explanation you have posted 
"Now, from the passage, we already know that Chinese restaurants which do not offer jasmine tea for free are more likely to offer food containing MSG. Right?"
How does this come logically from passage ??
If i am not wrong the passage only states that " Restaurants offering free jasmine time don't serve food that has MSG. How come we can extract the information from the stimulus that "restaurants which don't offer free jasmine tea serve food that has MSG ?"

Could you please reply to this query
It would be grateful...

Thanks

Abhinav93 · Answer

‘C’ says requesting not ordering.

Posted from my mobile device

manishcmu · Answer

It is basically a cause effect type argument. Here, we have two potential causal factors and argument says that only one (No MSG) is the actual cause and not the other (green tea). One way to strengthen the argument is to show that green tea is not responsible for better business. Choice C does this by showing that when there is no cause ( no green tea) there is still the effect ( better business).

shahidomer77 · Answer

A B and D can be eliminated by reading the argument precisely . Between C and E note the words LARGE(More profit) and SOME(less profit) . This will give you C.

Kudos PLEASE

egmat · Answer

Even though I can approve to saying LARGE and SOME are important words in the context, the answer choice analysis should not be based on the profit earned. Option C gives a clear indication that jasmine tea is not the major selling point of such restaurants. Option E is talking about the customers who experience headache, not the customers those restaurants have.

Gauriii · Answer

so how I did it is that I identified the conclusion and then focused there. The Conclusion says that >> it is the repeat business of MSG allergic patrons that is responsible for higher business and not the attraction of free-tea.
Now since it is strengthen Q, there will only be 1 statement which will strengthen the Conclusion. It is only option C which says that even in free tea restaurants, people dont order jasmine tea, meaning that people dont really get attracted to free tea. and that moves our current belief in the conclusion to a stronger belief. Thats the answer

VerbalBot · Answer

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Chinese restaurants that offer free jasmine tea with meals do better b

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