More women than men suffer from Alzheimer’s disease—a disease that is

Question

Competition Mode Question

More women than men suffer from Alzheimer’s disease—a disease that is most commonly contracted by elderly persons. This discrepancy has often been attributed to women’s longer life span, but his theory may be wrong. A recent study has shown that prescribing estrogen to women after menopause, when estrogen production in the body decreases, may prevent them from developing the disease. Men’s supply of testosterone may help safeguard them against Alzheimer’s disease because much of it is converted by the body to estrogen, and testosterone levels stay relatively stable into old age.

Which of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the argument?

Which of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the argument?

(A) A decrease in estrogen, rather than longer life span, may explain the higher occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease in women relative to men.

(B) As one gets older, one’s chances of developing Alzhimer’s disease increase.

(C) Women who go through menopause earlier in life than do most other women have an increased risk of contracting Alzheimer’s disease.

(D) The conversion of testosterone into estrogen may help safeguard men from Alzheimer’s disease.

(E) Testosterone is necessary for preventing Alzheimer’s disease in older men.

ArunSharma12 · Answer

(A) A decrease in estrogen, rather than longer life span, may explain the higher occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease in women relative to men.
 This is line with the reasoning presented in the passage. longer life span does not justify the rate of Alzheimer’s disease in women.

(B) As one gets older, one’s chances of developing Alzhimer’s disease increase.
 Men do not develop Alzhimer’s disease because testosterone levels stay relatively stable as they get older.

(C) Women who go through menopause earlier in life than do most other women have an increased risk of contracting Alzheimer’s disease.
 This reasoning is not covered in the passage. set of women going through menopause early is not compared with the other set.

(D) The conversion of testosterone into estrogen may help safeguard men from Alzheimer’s disease.
 This is not the central idea of this passage

(E) Testosterone is necessary for preventing Alzheimer’s disease in older men
 This reasoning is not covered in the passage 
Ans: A

TarPhi · Answer

(A) A decrease in estrogen, rather than longer life span, may explain the higher occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease in women relative to men.
BEST ANSWER - Talks about men vs women and the cause estrogen vs longer life span.

(B) As one gets older, one’s chances of developing Alzhimer’s disease increase.
WRONG - it's mentioned

(C) Women who go through menopause earlier in life than do most other women have an increased risk of contracting Alzheimer’s disease.
WRONG - Tempting but what about lifespan? men?

(D) The conversion of testosterone into estrogen may help safeguard men from Alzheimer’s disease.
WRONG - it's mentioned

(E) Testosterone is necessary for preventing Alzheimer’s disease in older men.
WRONG - it's mentioned

GMATNinjaTwo   GMATNinja   eakabuah   nightblade354  - is my reasoning correct?

nightblade354 · Answer

TarPhi , when we try to find a conclusion of an argument, the best approach, at least for me, is to determine what are the premises (support) and what those premises are supporting (conclusion).

When you say "wrong - mentioned", I become a little confused. A conclusion should be stated, unless it is a fill in the blank question. I think using logic on this type of question can cause a significant amount of time to be lost. Using the premise/conclusion method, you see how the argument sets up and you can then see a proper answer faster.

StevenA · Answer

The passage concludes that contrary to the common belief that more women suffer from Alzheimer’s disease due to women's life span, estrogen actually plays a huge role in the disease. Hence, option A provides the connection between estrogen and the disease.

Conclusion - This theory (Alzheimer’s disease is attributed to longer life span) may be wrong
Premise 1 - A recent study has shown that prescribing estrogen to women after menopause, when estrogen production in the body decreases, may prevent them from developing the disease. 
Premise 2 - Men’s supply of testosterone may help safeguard them against Alzheimer’s disease because much of it is converted by the body to estrogen, and testosterone levels stay relatively stable into old age.

shameekv1989 · Answer

More women than men suffer from Alzheimer’s disease—a disease that is most commonly contracted by elderly persons. This discrepancy has often been attributed to women’s longer life span, but his theory may be wrong. A recent study has shown that prescribing estrogen to women after menopause, when estrogen production in the body decreases, may prevent them from developing the disease. Men’s supply of testosterone may help safeguard them against Alzheimer’s disease because much of it is converted by the body to estrogen, and testosterone levels stay relatively stable into old age.

Which of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the argument?

Which of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the argument?

(A) A decrease in estrogen, rather than longer life span, may explain the higher occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease in women relative to men.

(B) As one gets older, one’s chances of developing Alzhimer’s disease increase.

(C) Women who go through menopause earlier in life than do most other women have an increased risk of contracting Alzheimer’s disease.

(D) The conversion of testosterone into estrogen may help safeguard men from Alzheimer’s disease.

(E) Testosterone is necessary for preventing Alzheimer’s disease in older men

Testosterone is converted into Estrogen usually  but  the testosterone levels remain same into old age  which means testosterone is not converted into estrogen in older men, which in turn means  there is a decrease in estrogen levels in older men , whereas  in women estrogen level increases into old age . Thus the theory that longer life span of women prevents alzheimer is incorrect.

This is what  option A  suggests very accurately.

option B is an opposite of what can be inferred from the argument 
option C is an opposite of what can be inferred from the argument
option D is an inference from the argument wrt men in general but not to older men as is required by the conclusion *theory may be wrong*
option E is not necessarily true infact testosterone conversion into estrogen is necessary which doesn't happen in older men

nightblade354  :- Could you please confirm my understanding? I was little confused and marked option D, though I later figured that option D is an inference but do not relate to the conclusion wrt older men. To accurately express the conclusion means we need an inference that correlates to the conclusion?

nightblade354 · Answer

I wouldn't argue that (D) may or not may not be wrong, as it is stated. The bigger picture is that it isn't, itself, the conclusion. The conclusion is what you are trying to prove. Are we trying to prove that the conversion of testosterone helps stave off Alzheimer's in men (or does this support something)? Or we are trying to prove that what has been thought of all this time has been wrong? And if we are trying to prove the latter, what evidence props it up? These are the questions that you need to ask to answer a conclusion question.

shameekv1989 · Answer

So can I say "most accurately expresses conclusion" questions are similar to Strengthen the conclusion types?

nightblade354 · Answer

shameekv1989 , conclusion questions are all about finding the conclusion, per the category's name. Unless it is a fill in the blank question, the conclusion should be explicitly stated and all you have to do is point to the right line. Finding support or counter arguments helps you determine what isn't a conclusion and where the argument is flowing.

shameekv1989 · Answer

Sure, thank you! I guess I will take a look at similar questions to practice keeping what you said in mind.

VerbalBot · Answer

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More women than men suffer from Alzheimer’s disease—a disease that is

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