As per a new study happy people are likely to eat sugary sweets, while

Question

As per a new study happy people are likely to eat sugary sweets, while hopeful people choose healthier options such as fruits to snack on. Researcher’s hypothesize that the reason behind this difference in choice is that when people feel hope, they are thinking about the future and hence make smarter eating choices. Accordingly, when people feel happy, they are either content with their present situation or taking pride in their past glory.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens the researcher’s hypothesis?

(A) The feeling of contentment is dependent on the expectation that the present actions will not bear negative consequences

(B) Some of the participants in the study felt neither happy while thinking about a past situation nor hopeful while thinking about a future one.

(C) Access to sugary sweets was not greater for participants who felt hopeful.

(D) Various other studies have shown that people who feel sad about their current or past situations choose to eat unhealthy foods.

(E) It is not impossible for a person to feel contentment and pride at the same time

Carcass · Answer

As per a new study happy people are likely to eat sugary sweets, while hopeful people choose healthier options such as fruits to snack on. Researcher’s hypothesize that the reason  behind this difference in choice is that when people  feel hope ,  they are thinking about the future and hence make smarter eating choices. Accordingly, when people feel happy, they are either content with their present situation or taking pride in their past glory.

So the difference between the two groups is the feeling they have

(A) The feeling of contentment is dependent on the expectation that the present actions will not bear negative consequences

This is the right option. The feeling have not to influence the choices the two groups made

(B)  Some of the participants  in the study felt neither happy while thinking about a past situation nor hopeful while thinking about a future one.

some tells us part of the story

(C) Access to sugary sweets was not greater for participants who felt hopeful.

the quantity is not our assumption

(D) Various other studies have shown that people who feel sad about their current or past situations choose to eat unhealthy foods.

irrelevant to understand present and future choices

(E) It is not impossible for a person to feel contentment and pride at the same time

I do not think this helps that much

A is the answer

Ps1810 · Answer

I was very sure that the answer was not B,C OR D but I am not able to choose between a and e.

Dungavath · Answer

I can't understand why C is not an option.

When Hope is the choice for future, we can negate it by those who hope couldn't have access to unhealthy diet.

ParamjitDasGMAT · Answer

Hi  Dungavath , I am happy to help. "Access was  not greater " doesn't imply that the access was  less . The opposite of  greater  isn't  less  -- it could also have been  equal , in which case the author's conclusion would hold.

Hope this clarifies.

Ritik25 · Answer

IMO, there isn't a clear distinction between A and C. A very clearly doesn't break the author's conclusion, because there are two conditions here: either happy people are content, or they take pride in past glory. Even if the former is negated due to A, they can still be happy by taking pride in past glory.

Likewise, C offers two alternatives, either hopeful people had lesser access to sugar as compared to happy people, or they had equal access. The former breaks the conclusion by the author since lesser access means lesser consumption, but the latter doesn't.

Both A and C address only 50% of the potential scenarios required to break the conclusion and are functionally similar. It doesn't seem fair to force a choice here.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

I agree with  Ritik25 . This question doesn't really work. We are supposed to address the hypothesis, not whether happy people are  right  to feel contented, or whether they accurately reflect the future value of their choices. In any case, as Ritik pointed out, the OR in the conclusion gives us an out from the whole issue.

(Also, the argument should make it clearer whether the final sentence is an additional part of the the researchers' hypothesis or a new conclusion from the author. As written, it appears to be the latter, so we'd only be trying to weaken the part about hopeful people's thought process.)

As per a new study happy people are likely to eat sugary sweets, while

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