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Difficulty:
65%
(hard)
Question Stats:
59% (02:03) correct
41%
(02:23)
wrong
based on 417
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
According to life-insurance company statistics, nine out of ten alcoholics die before the age of seventy-five, as opposed to seven out of ten nonalcoholics. A recent report issued by the State Medical Board recounts these statistics and concludes that alcohol addiction increases a person’s susceptibility to life-threatening diseases, thereby reducing life expectancy.
The conclusion drawn by the State Medical Board depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) People who are predisposed to life-threatening diseases are more likely than other people to become alcoholic.
(B) The statistics cited exclude deaths due to other alcohol related events such as automobile accidents.
(C) Alcoholism does not also increase a person’s susceptibility to diseases that are not life-threatening.
(D) The life expectancy of that portion of the general population not characterized by alcoholism increases over time.
(E) The author of the report is not biased in his or her personal opinion about the morality of alcohol consumption.
The conclusion drawn by the State Medical Board depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) People who are predisposed to life-threatening diseases are more likely than other people to become alcoholic.
(B) The statistics cited exclude deaths due to other alcohol related events such as automobile accidents.
(C) Alcoholism does not also increase a person’s susceptibility to diseases that are not life-threatening.
(D) The life expectancy of that portion of the general population not characterized by alcoholism increases over time.
(E) The author of the report is not biased in his or her personal opinion about the morality of alcohol consumption.
yashikaaggarwal
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Schools: Cranfield (A) Warwick MiM "23 (M)
Posts: 3,095
According to the State Medical Board report alcohol addiction increases a person’s susceptibility to life-threatening diseases, thereby reducing life expectancy.
The conclusion drawn by the State Medical Board depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) People who are predisposed to life-threatening diseases are more likely than other people to become alcoholic. ( They didn't mention that if a person is already suffering from a life threatening disease will eventually become a alcoholic. they are concluding that being alcoholic will reduce their chances of survival, The assumption here is flawed) (incorrect)
(B) The statistics cited exclude deaths due to other alcohol related events such as automobile accidents. (the state medical board neglected the cases where alcoholics die out of automobile accidents which has nothing to do with the life expectancy rate of alcoholics) (can be the assumption)
(C) Alcoholism does not also increase a person’s susceptibility to diseases that are not life-threatening. ( no mention of such ideology where the alcohol might or might not increase the chance of getting a non life threatening disease. Hence the assumption is irrelevant)
(D) The life expectancy of that portion of the general population not characterized by alcoholism increases over time. (No specific parameter given to conclude that non alcoholics are having greater life expectancy than alcoholics) (incorrect)
(E) The author of the report is not biased in his or her personal opinion about the morality of alcohol consumption.(Can't conclude with conviction since no stats is present to testify the assumption) (Out of scope)
IMO B
_________________
The conclusion drawn by the State Medical Board depends on which of the following assumptions?
(A) People who are predisposed to life-threatening diseases are more likely than other people to become alcoholic. ( They didn't mention that if a person is already suffering from a life threatening disease will eventually become a alcoholic. they are concluding that being alcoholic will reduce their chances of survival, The assumption here is flawed) (incorrect)
(B) The statistics cited exclude deaths due to other alcohol related events such as automobile accidents. (the state medical board neglected the cases where alcoholics die out of automobile accidents which has nothing to do with the life expectancy rate of alcoholics) (can be the assumption)
(C) Alcoholism does not also increase a person’s susceptibility to diseases that are not life-threatening. ( no mention of such ideology where the alcohol might or might not increase the chance of getting a non life threatening disease. Hence the assumption is irrelevant)
(D) The life expectancy of that portion of the general population not characterized by alcoholism increases over time. (No specific parameter given to conclude that non alcoholics are having greater life expectancy than alcoholics) (incorrect)
(E) The author of the report is not biased in his or her personal opinion about the morality of alcohol consumption.(Can't conclude with conviction since no stats is present to testify the assumption) (Out of scope)
IMO B
_________________
rs47
Joined: 12 Feb 2014
Last visit: 27 Jun 2022
Posts: 75
Location: India
Schools: LBS MIF '19
GMAT 1: 730 Q50 V40
GPA: 3.3
While I correctly chose B for this question, is B actually a necessary assumption? It could very well be that the statistics cited included deaths due to other alcohol related events such as automobile accidents, etc but the number of such deaths may not be very significant so as to impact our conclusion.
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
GRE 1: Q167 V169
Posts: 16
(B) is not a necessary assumption. The negation of (B) is that the stats cited include deaths from alcohol-related events like automobile accidents, i.e. include deaths from things other than a life-threatening disease. That doesn't destroy the leap from an increased death rate to a greater susceptibility to life-threatening disease. To illustrate with an extreme example -
-10,000 alcoholics, 10,000 non-alcoholics.
-9,000 pre-75 alcoholic deaths, 8,999 of which are caused by a life-threatening disease, and 1 of which is caused by a drunken automobile accident.
Is it therefore invalid to make the leap from the increased death rate to the susceptibility to life-threatening disease?
-10,000 alcoholics, 10,000 non-alcoholics.
-9,000 pre-75 alcoholic deaths, 8,999 of which are caused by a life-threatening disease, and 1 of which is caused by a drunken automobile accident.
Is it therefore invalid to make the leap from the increased death rate to the susceptibility to life-threatening disease?
The conclusion of the argument is that alcohol addiction increases a person’s susceptibility to life-threatening diseases, reducing life expectancy. To support this conclusion, the argument relies on the statistics that a higher percentage of alcoholics die before the age of 75 compared to non-alcoholics.
We need to find an assumption that the argument depends on. The assumption must be something that is necessary for the conclusion to be valid but is not explicitly stated in the argument. Let's evaluate each option:
(A) People who are predisposed to life-threatening diseases are more likely than other people to become alcoholic.
This option suggests that there is a correlation between having a predisposition to life-threatening diseases and becoming an alcoholic. However, this assumption introduces an alternative explanation for the correlation between alcoholism and shorter life expectancy. This weakens the argument rather than supporting it because if people who are already predisposed to diseases are more likely to become alcoholics, it would not be alcoholism causing the reduced life expectancy. Therefore, this is not a necessary assumption.
(B) The statistics cited exclude deaths due to other alcohol-related events such as automobile accidents.
This is a strong contender. The argument is about life-threatening diseases, but if the statistics include deaths caused by alcohol-related accidents (like car accidents), then the conclusion would be invalid because it would attribute deaths from accidents to diseases. To maintain the argument's focus on life-threatening diseases, it is necessary to assume that deaths from alcohol-related accidents are excluded. Therefore, this is a necessary assumption.
(C) Alcoholism does not also increase a person’s susceptibility to diseases that are not life-threatening.
The conclusion focuses on life-threatening diseases, and whether alcoholism affects susceptibility to non-life-threatening diseases is irrelevant to the argument. Therefore, this is not a necessary assumption.
(D) The life expectancy of that portion of the general population not characterized by alcoholism increases over time.
The conclusion is about the effect of alcoholism on life expectancy relative to non-alcoholics. This option talks about the life expectancy of non-alcoholics increasing over time, which does not directly affect the conclusion about the comparison between alcoholics and non-alcoholics at the present time. Therefore, this is not a necessary assumption.
(E) The author of the report is not biased in his or her personal opinion about the morality of alcohol consumption.
The personal bias of the author does not impact the validity of the statistical comparison and the conclusion drawn from it. Whether the author has a moral opinion about alcohol consumption is irrelevant to the assumption that the conclusion depends on. Therefore, this is not a necessary assumption.
Conclusion:
The best answer is (B) because it provides a necessary assumption that the statistics focus on deaths due to diseases rather than alcohol-related accidents. Without this assumption, the argument would not hold.
We need to find an assumption that the argument depends on. The assumption must be something that is necessary for the conclusion to be valid but is not explicitly stated in the argument. Let's evaluate each option:
(A) People who are predisposed to life-threatening diseases are more likely than other people to become alcoholic.
This option suggests that there is a correlation between having a predisposition to life-threatening diseases and becoming an alcoholic. However, this assumption introduces an alternative explanation for the correlation between alcoholism and shorter life expectancy. This weakens the argument rather than supporting it because if people who are already predisposed to diseases are more likely to become alcoholics, it would not be alcoholism causing the reduced life expectancy. Therefore, this is not a necessary assumption.
(B) The statistics cited exclude deaths due to other alcohol-related events such as automobile accidents.
This is a strong contender. The argument is about life-threatening diseases, but if the statistics include deaths caused by alcohol-related accidents (like car accidents), then the conclusion would be invalid because it would attribute deaths from accidents to diseases. To maintain the argument's focus on life-threatening diseases, it is necessary to assume that deaths from alcohol-related accidents are excluded. Therefore, this is a necessary assumption.
(C) Alcoholism does not also increase a person’s susceptibility to diseases that are not life-threatening.
The conclusion focuses on life-threatening diseases, and whether alcoholism affects susceptibility to non-life-threatening diseases is irrelevant to the argument. Therefore, this is not a necessary assumption.
(D) The life expectancy of that portion of the general population not characterized by alcoholism increases over time.
The conclusion is about the effect of alcoholism on life expectancy relative to non-alcoholics. This option talks about the life expectancy of non-alcoholics increasing over time, which does not directly affect the conclusion about the comparison between alcoholics and non-alcoholics at the present time. Therefore, this is not a necessary assumption.
(E) The author of the report is not biased in his or her personal opinion about the morality of alcohol consumption.
The personal bias of the author does not impact the validity of the statistical comparison and the conclusion drawn from it. Whether the author has a moral opinion about alcohol consumption is irrelevant to the assumption that the conclusion depends on. Therefore, this is not a necessary assumption.
Conclusion:
The best answer is (B) because it provides a necessary assumption that the statistics focus on deaths due to diseases rather than alcohol-related accidents. Without this assumption, the argument would not hold.
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