The average 40-year-old North American will have watched more than one

Question

The average 40-year-old North American will have watched more than one million TV commercials in his or her lifetime. We may safely conclude, therefore, that the TV commercial has influenced North American habits of thought.

The conclusion above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

(A) The habits of thought that people develop are largely determined by external influences.

(B) Anything people are exposed to in great quantity will influence their habits of thought.

(C) It is impossible to avoid or ignore television commercials.

(D) Some people find television commercials more interesting to watch than the programs themselves.

(E) Certain forms of communication to which people are subjected will affect their habits of thought.

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

This question is an excellent example of why categorizing questions by question type can actually be harmful. If the question asked for an assumption made by the argument, we would look for an answer choice that must be true in order for the conclusion to be properly drawn.

But it doesn’t just ask for an assumption. Instead, it asks for an answer choice that, if assumed, makes the conclusion logically follow. So, rather than looking for an answer choice that is merely NECESSARY, we are looking for an answer choice that is SUFFICIENT to draw the argument’s conclusion.

Keeping the question in mind, let’s take a look at (E):

If we were looking for an assumption made by the argument, (E) would be a good candidate. It has to be true that certain forms of communication affect people’s habits of thought for us to conclude that TV commercials influence North American habits of thought. But the question doesn’t ask for an assumption made by the argument. Instead, if we assume that certain forms of communication affect habits of thought, then can we logically conclude that TV commercials influence North American thought? We can’t because we don’t know if TV commercials are one of those “certain forms of communication.”

So while (E) is an assumption made by the argument, the conclusion does not necessarily logically follow if we assume (E). Eliminate (E).

And here’s (B):

According to the passage, the average 40-year-old North American is exposed to TV commercials in great quantity. If, as (B) says, anything people are exposed to in great quantity influences their habits to thought, then TV commercials will influence the habits of thought of North Americans. This is exactly what the conclusion of the argument states, so the author’s conclusion logically follows if we assume (B). Therefore, (B) is correct.

You’re actually correct to note that (B) is too broad if we were merely looking for an assumption made by the argument. It does not have to be true that ANYTHING people are exposed to in great quantity will influence their habits of thought in order for us to conclude that TV commercials have influenced North American thought. It’s possible that only those things which people WATCH in great quantity influence their habits of thought.

So, (B) is not an assumption made by the argument. But if we assume (B), the conclusion logically follows.

Again, one of the biggest takeaway from this question is that broadly categorizing questions into question types without considering the nuances of a particular question is not helpful and can actually be harmful. So as silly as this might sound: do your best to simply read the question, and answer the exact question that is asked.

I hope that helps!

GMATNinja · Answer

Often the best approach to CR is not to look for the perfect answer, but to find the least flawed answer. From that perspective, let's walk through the answer choices.

We're trying to draw the specific conclusion that an average of one million  TV commercials  over forty years will influence North Americans' habits of thought. Since "external influences" doesn't NECESSARILY include commercials, this doesn't cause the conclusion to "follow logically."

So, since (A) on its own doesn't allow the conclusion to be drawn, we can eliminate it.

Notice that "anything that people are exposed to" MUST by definition include TV commercials. So IF one million TV commercials over 40 years is a "great quantity" of exposure -- and that doesn't seem like much of a stretch, since one million is a pretty darned large number -- then (B) absolutely allows the conclusion to be drawn.

So (B) requires us to make the judgment that one million commercials over 40 years is a "great quantity" of exposure. Is that a flaw? Well, it's not nearly as bad as the flaw with (A). For now, let's hold onto (B).

Okay, but how do we know that TV commercials influence habits of thought? Since (C) doesn't help us make that connection, it doesn't cause the conclusion to be "follow logically." Eliminate (C).

Once again, this doesn't confirm that television commercials influence habits of thought. Just because SOME people find commercials more interesting than the programs themselves, we can't conclude that commercials are generally influencing people's habits of thought. Since it fails to make the necessary connection, (D) can be eliminated.

We're trying to draw a specific connection between  TV commercials  and habits of thought. Certain forms of communication doesn't NECESSARILY include TV commercials. So, since (E) isn't sufficient on its own to cause the conclusion to "follow logically," we can eliminate it.

That leaves us with (B).

Notice our only issue with (B) was that it requires us to make the judgment that one million commercials over forty years is a "great quantity" of exposure. By contrast, there's no way to interpret the other answer choices so that the conclusion "follows logically." So while (B) may not strike us as the perfect answer, it's clearly less flawed than all the others, which makes it correct.

I hope that helps!

Shadyshades · Answer

The answer says B. How ? 
A few doubts- 
1) Why are you assuming that more than 1 million commercials is a big quantity ? 
2) "Anything" makes this option very subjective. Isn't it ?

My pick is option A.

bishalramos · Answer

I thought the same and picked option A. Official explanation will be of great help. Thank you

RohitSaluja · Answer

The reason, we could eliminate option A is because it mentions "habits of thought that people develop are largely determined by external influences". Now the keyword here is external influences, surely advertisements are one of those, but there could also be myriad others which we don't know about, now this could be true, no denying in that, but it is sort of extreme. For assumptions questions, the minimalistic approach works well, which option B provides.

Pallavi2020 · Answer

Why c is wrong?  Sajjad1994  can you please provide OE?

Posted from my mobile device

Drmorgan · Answer

IMO

The average 40-year-old North American will have watched more than one million TV commercials in his or her lifetime. We may safely conclude, therefore, that the TV commercial has influenced North American habits of thought.

- The conclusion above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

(A) The habits of thought that people develop are largely determined by external influences.  Considered during first pass but argument does not discuss the broader topic of internal vs. external influences.

(B) Anything people are exposed to in great quantity will influence their habits of thought.  Considered during first pass and the argument does refer to quantity of influence (one million). Not the perfect answer in the real world but significantly better than the others.

(C) It is impossible to avoid or ignore television commercials.  If true, the argument is not affected. If false, the argument is not affected. Therefore this is not a relevant assumption.

(D) Some people find television commercials more interesting to watch than the programs themselves.  If true, the argument is not affected. If false, the argument is not affected. Therefore this is not a relevant assumption.

(E) Certain forms of communication to which people are subjected will affect their habits of thought.  This is not a broader discussion about different forms of communication. There are more specific answers that match the specificity of the argument.

TheGraceful · Answer

I was able to narrow down to B and E. However, I eliminated B as 'any' hints at extreme.
please help with explanation.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

This question is an Assumption type of question.

The conclusion of the passage is that the TV commercial has influenced North American habits of thought. 
This conclusion is based on the information that the average 40-year-old North American will have watched more than one million TV commercials in his or her lifetime.
The unstated premise is that the volume of commercials that the average 40-year-old North American has watched influences his or her habits of thought.

Option A does not mention the quantity or volume. The focus of the passage is not ‘external influences’. So, Option A can be eliminated.

Option C puts the focus on television commercials. The passage mentions that the average American will have watched more than one million commercials in his lifetime and so the commercial would have influenced habits of thought. However, Option C only states that it is impossible to avoid or ignore television commercials. There is no mention of the quantity. So, Option C can be eliminated.

Option D is completely irrelevant. The argument does not mention television programs. So, Option D can be eliminated.

Option E also changes the focus of the passage to certain forms of communication. There is no mention of the quantity. So, Option E can also be eliminated.

Option B sums up the unstated premise.  Therefore, B is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

TheGraceful · Answer

Yes, this definitely has helped a lot sire..!!

Plane, simplistic approach has made all the things crystal clear. And separate and special thanks for summarizing and bringing forth the takeaway from this question.

Sharu2205 · Answer

Thanks for the beautiful differentiation of necessary and sufficient conditions in questions which mention the word "assumption". Can I just take for granted in questions that ask for "what assumption if true, conclusion logically follows" that they are asking for sufficient condition?

GMATNinja · Answer

It is true that this question asks you to find the answer choice that is sufficient to draw the argument's conclusion. However, it is best to never "take for granted" the wording of a CR question. It is more accurate to fully read each question as you come across it, and then just answer the exact question in front of you. There are too many possible variations to accurately place each one in a "box," so it's best not to go down that road at all.

I hope that helps a bit!

unraveled · Answer

The average 40-year-old North American will have watched more than one million TV commercials in his or her lifetime. We may safely conclude, therefore, that the TV commercial has influenced North American habits of thought.

The conclusion above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

(A) The habits of thought that people develop are  largely determined  by  external influences . - WRONG. Both red text are problematic in this. "Largely determined" is amplifying or extrapolating unnecessarily. Also, do TV commercials come under external influence.

(B)  Anything  people are exposed to in great quantity will influence their habits of thought. - CORRECT. "Anything" is questionable but it does encapsulates TVCs so it looks okay for a while and then it is not. However, a 50-50 case is still fine when other options are eliminated. POE helps.

(C) It is  impossible to avoid or ignore  television commercials. - WRONG. Makes no sense as far as impacting the passage is concerned.

(D) Some people find television commercials more interesting to watch  than  the programs themselves. - WRONG. An irrelevant comparison that is not required.

(E)  Certain forms of communication  to which people are subjected will affect their habits of thought. - WRONG. Is TV commercial that certain form of communication or comes under that category? We are not sure.

Felt i'm so dumb if i'm seeing or going to see so many TVCs. Debatable question but thank you Charles for such a nice explanation. Banged my head for getting it wrong and more so when found B is correct.

Answer B.

Danish234 · Answer

How will I be able to determine that 1 million commercials are enough to influence the habits of thought?
Or in other words How can we tell one 1 million commercials is a great quantity if we have no OTHER AVERAGE or BASELINE based on which we can determine whether 1 million commercials is enough to influence thought?

The average 40-year-old North American will have watched more than one

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The average 40-year-old North American will have watched more than one

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