Patient: I have read that particles of my artificial hip can wear off

Question

Patient : I have read that particles of my artificial hip can wear off and be absorbed by surrounding tissues. I believe that this is responsible for the discomfort that I am now experiencing.

Surgeon : Your surgery was so recent that with normal use it is almost impossible for the artificial hip to have already begun to wear away. The reason for your current discomfort is due to routine post-operative inflammation which can be treated with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the patient’s position regarding her discomfort?

(A) The patient has not followed the post-operative instructions she was given regarding how much time she should spend engaged in vigorous activities.

(B) The inflammation that is common to people who have had replacement hip replacement surgery often needs to be treated with more potent drugs than the ones being recommended by the surgeon.

(C) The patient has an artificial hip that is made of a material that can begin to wear out after a few weeks when exposed to temperatures higher than 200 degrees.

(D) The patient read about the possibility of artificial hips wearing out in a respected medical journal.

(E) The surgeon has only been performing hip-replacement surgery for less than a year.

Solution: A

Explanation : The surgeon explains that it is almost impossible for the artificial hip to wear away so soon  WITH NORMAL USE . However, if the patient was inappropriately engaged in vigorous activities, particles of her hip may very well be wearing off.

(B) The question is what is causing the discomfort, not how to treat it.

(C) There is no reason to think that the patient could have been exposed to such an extreme temperature.

(D) This lends strength to the idea that artificial hips CAN wear away, but does not strengthen the proposition that this is what happened to her.

(E) The surgeon’s lack of experience does not necessarily weaken his position or strengthen the patient’s.

dinesh86 · Accepted Answer

Patient: I have read that particles of my artificial hip can wear off and be absorbed by surrounding tissues. I believe that this is responsible for the discomfort that I am now experiencing.
Surgeon: Your surgery was so recent that with normal use it is almost impossible for the artificial hip to have already begun to wear away. The reason for your current discomfort is due to routine post-operative inflammation which can be treated with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the patient’s position regarding her discomfort?

P: Wearing-off of hip ---> Discomfort (WOH ---> DC)  
S: No, Post-operative Inflammation ---> Discomfort (POI ---> DC)

We have to strengthen the P's claim that WOH ---> DC

A) The patient has not followed the post-operative instructions she was given regarding how much time she should spend engaged in vigorous activities.
- Not following the PO instuctions --->Wearing-off of Hip ---> Discomfort  
It is in-line with our reasoning hence correct.

B) The inflammation that is common to people who have had replacement hip replacement surgery often needs to be treated with more potent drugs than the ones being recommended by the surgeon - Strengthen Surgeon claim.
 
 C) The patient has an artificial hip that is made of a material that can begin to wear out after a few weeks when exposed to temperatures higher than 200 degrees - No mention of effects of high temperature.
 
 D) The patient read about the possibility of artificial hips wearing out in a respected medical journal - Authenticity of source of patient's reading is not in question. The actual reason of discomfort after reading article is the issue.
 
 E) The surgeon has only been performing hip-replacement surgery for less than a year - OFS.

AbuRashid · Answer

A,

for those who put C as an answer, who can expose his/her hip to 200 degrees and still come out good!

aditya8062 · Answer

A it is :  The patient has not followed the post-operative instructions she was given regarding how much time she should spend engaged in vigorous activities. ----------------->option A tells us that there is a possibility that the patient might have done some vigorous activities and hence the damage might have occurred .the patient is contending that the wear might have occurred . he has never said that the fact that he has been doing "normal" things has led to that wear ! in fact it the doctor who is proclaiming that fact

warriorguy · Answer

GMATNinja : your pearls of wisdom on this question.

I reached A by PoE but I agree with others. I was wondering if option (A) strengthened patient's PoV (point of view).

Patient thinks that there is something with the material but doctor suggests that "with Normal use" nothing could go wrong so soon. It is just an inflammation.

Option A says that it was not normal use. Since it is not normal use - can we isolate that to patient's PoV since she believes there is an issue with the material?

Let me know if I am overthinking this scenario.

Kurtosis · Answer

The surgeon says "Your surgery was so recent that with  normal  use it is almost impossible for the artificial hip to have already begun to wear away". Here, the surgeon considers normal use when he states that wear off is not the cause. A states that the patient has involved in rigorous activities. So the artificial hip may have worn away.

warriorguy · Answer

Thanks  Vyshak .

So the focus is that the material did actually wear off and it is inflammation. It is not some inflammation as surgeon suggested.

Since the effect is true i.e discomfort due to wear off, so patient's stand is strengthened.

Posted from my mobile device

Sateni7628 · Answer

My POE as below. (A) The patient has not followed the post-operative instructions she was given regarding how much time she should spend engaged in vigorous activities. This choice gives a hint that patient would have been engaged in more vigorous activities than recommended and hence his artificial hip started to wear out.

Makes sense. (B) The inflammation that is common to people who have had replacement hip replacement surgery often needs to be treated with more potent drugs than the ones being recommended by the surgeon. Whether more potent drugs or those recommended by the surgeon, patient's argument is not supported here. Hence wrong choice. (C) The patient has an artificial hip that is made of a material that can begin to wear out after a few weeks when exposed to temperatures higher than 200 degrees. Cannot be judged if the patient had been exposed to 200 F or C

Need outside information. Hence wrong. (D) The patient read about the possibility of artificial hips wearing out in a respected medical journal. Though what was mentioned in the journal could be right about the particles of artificial hip, Surgeon's argument could still be valid. Hence this choice is wrong. (E) The surgeon has only been performing hip-replacement surgery for less than a year. Surgeon could be well trained to perform the surgery better than many other experienced surgeons in the industry. Hence no supporting the patient's argument and wrong choice. Just restarted my GMAT life. KUDOs please

dcummins · Answer

Official Veritas Explanation 
 
Solution: A

Explanation: The surgeon explains that it is almost impossible for the artificial hip to wear away so soon WITH NORMAL USE. However, if the patient was inappropriately engaged in vigorous activities, particles of her hip may very well be wearing off.

(B) The question is what is causing the discomfort, not how to treat it.

(C) There is no reason to think that the patient could have been exposed to such an extreme temperature.

(D) This lends strength to the idea that artificial hips CAN wear away, but does not strengthen the proposition that this is what happened to her.

(E) The surgeon’s lack of experience does not necessarily weaken his position or strengthen the patient’s.

Rohan271 · Answer

There is some kind of misunderstanding in the question regarding option A which seems to be supporting surgeon's view instead of patient's.

egmat · Answer

Rohan271   I can see why option A might seem confusing  - you're right that increased vigorous activity could lead to more inflammation, which at first glance appears to support the surgeon's view.

Here's the key insight:

Look at the surgeon's argument structure carefully. The surgeon argues: "with  normal use  it is almost impossible for the artificial hip to have already begun to wear away."

This "normal use" condition is the  foundation  of the surgeon's entire argument against the patient's wear-particle explanation.

Option A  tells us the patient has NOT followed post-operative instructions about vigorous activities - meaning she's been  MORE active than recommended . This is NOT "normal use."

By showing the patient exceeded normal use, option A  undermines the surgeon's key premise . The surgeon's argument was: "Under normal use, no wear could have occurred yet." But if there wasn't normal use, then the surgeon's timeline argument collapses, and the patient's explanation (wear particles causing discomfort) becomes  more plausible .

Yes, increased activity might also cause inflammation, but remember: the question asks what strengthens the  patient's position  that wear particles are responsible. Option A does this by showing that the condition the surgeon relied on (normal use) doesn't actually apply.

Strategic Guidance - Recognition Pattern for Strengthen/Weaken Questions:

When evaluating answer choices in argument-based CR questions:

Identify the conclusion and the key premises/assumptions 
 For strengthen questions, look for choices that either:
 
 Support a premise 
 Undermine a counter-argument by attacking ITS premises  
 Provide additional evidence for the conclusion

In this case, the patient's conclusion is being challenged by the surgeon. Strengthening the patient means either supporting her view directly OR undermining the surgeon's counter-argument (which option A does by invalidating his "normal use" premise).

Key takeaway:  Don't get distracted by alternative explanations an answer choice might support - focus on whether it strengthens the  specific position  asked about.

agrasan · Answer

Hi  egmat

(C) The patient has an artificial hip that is made of a material that can begin to wear out after a few weeks when exposed to temperatures higher than 200 degrees.

Can we reject (C) on the basis of reasoning that relationship between  wear of artificial hip's material  and  temperature  is not given? Also, can we also reject it by the logic that 200 degrees is  not realistically possible  for a human to tolerate?

Please let me know.

guddo · Answer

Yes, you can reject (C), but for a tighter reason.

The core issue is: (C) gives a conditional, “it can wear out if exposed to >200 degrees,” but we are given  no evidence that her hip was ever exposed to that temperature . Without that missing link, (C) does not make early wear in her case more likely, so it does not strengthen her claim.

The “not realistically possible” point is not needed, and it is weaker logic. Even if 200 degrees sounds implausible for the body, the passage does not specify the scale, and the test does not require you to rely on real-world temperature limits. The clean takeaway is:  no stated exposure, no support .

egmat · Answer

The surgeon says:  "with normal use" , the hip can't have worn out this quickly. To strengthen the patient's position, we need  proof that something abnormal actually happened  to this patient. Not something that  could  happen - something that  did  happen.

Why (C) Fails: 
(C) tells us the material  can  begin to wear out at  200+  degrees. Okay - that's a condition under which wear is possible. But did this patient  actually experience 200+  degrees?

(C) doesn't say so.  It fails right there.  No evidence the trigger condition was met. It's just a hypothetical.

This logic holds  regardless  of what the condition is. If (C) had said "the material can wear out when there's a bird singing nearby," we'd reject it the same way. Birds  can  sing near patients - but did a bird  actually  sing near  this  patient? We don't know. Same problem.

The fact that  200  degrees is also  physically impossible in a living human body  (~ 98.6°F  normally, ~ 106°F  max with fever)? That's just a bonus -the second nail in an already-shut coffin.

Why (A) Works: 
(A) tells us the patient   actually didn't follow   post-op instructions about vigorous activity. This isn't hypothetical.  It happened.  That's proof of abnormal use - exactly what we need.

Answer: (A)

Patient: I have read that particles of my artificial hip can wear off

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Patient: I have read that particles of my artificial hip can wear off

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