Commercial: Men who struggle with hair loss need worry no longer the

Question

Commercial: Men who struggle with hair loss need worry no longer – they can now purchase Extra-Strength Spray-On Hair Growth! This amazing product will stimulate hair to re-grow and offer you a full head of hair once again. But if you don’t try our Extra-Strength Spray-On Hair Growth, your chances of having a full head of hair again will vanish, along with your hairline. So, try Extra-Strength Spray-On Hair Growth today!

The reasoning in the commercial is flawed similar to the reasoning in which of the following?

(A) Students who attend universities tend to be more successful in life; therefore, all students should attend a university in order to be successful and not fail in life.

(B) If you walk in the rain with your head uncovered, you will develop a cold; therefore, you should carry an umbrella.

(C) Over time, ovens develop a buildup of food residue that gets burned into the bottom of the oven; therefore, ovens should be cleaned annually.

(D) “Green” products lessen the toxic impact on the environment; therefore, people should purchase green products as one way to help the environment.

(E) Stan is unpopular among the members of his team because of his temper; therefore, Stan will be removed from the team.

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Whoisdmx15 · Answer

The flaw in the logic is: doing  X  increases your likely hood of being  Y . But if you don't do  X , you will never be  Y .
(False Contra negative anyone?)

Using the  Spray  will make you  regrow your hai r. But not using the  spray  will lead to you not r e-growing  your hair.

(A) Students who attend universities tend to be more successful in life; therefore, all students should attend a university in order to be successful and not fail in life.  Suitable  Matches the flaw in the reasoning of the stem. University attendance is x, more successful is Y. Hence follows the flaw doing  X  increases your likely hood of being  Y . But if you don't do  X , you will never be  Y

(B) If you walk in the rain with your head uncovered, you will develop a cold; therefore, you should carry an umbrella.  Eliminated  Argument is : If do X then Y. Hence don't do X.

(C) Over time, ovens develop a buildup of food residue that gets burned into the bottom of the oven; therefore, ovens should be cleaned annually.  Eliminated  Argument is : Over time X happens, hence do Y

(D) “Green” products lessen the toxic impact on the environment; therefore, people should purchase green products as one way to help the environment.  Eliminated  Argument is : X causes Y, hence do X

(E) Stan is unpopular among the members of his team because of his temper; therefore, Stan will be removed from the team. Eliminated  Argument is : As X hence Y

hr1212 · Answer

I feel this is a case of generalization, that a single thing might be true for all cases and for everyone.

Purchase Spray => Hair growth and full head of hair 
No Spray => No full head of hair
Hence, purchase Spray

What about people who already have full head of hair or the ones already using similar products and seeing improvements? They are totally unaffected by this spray whereas the argument seems unrealistic considering everyone and then strongly justifying their case even for the folks who are not struggling or are recovering from hair loss.

(A) Students who attend universities tend to be more successful in life; therefore, all students should attend a university in order to be successful and not fail in life.

Students from universities => successful 
 Hence, all students attend universities or fail

Seems again like a generalization, focusing only on one way to become successful. People can be successful using different mediums and hence it's not required that everyone who has not studied from university will definitely fail.

(B) If you walk in the rain with your head uncovered, you will develop a cold; therefore, you should carry an umbrella.   No contradiction, eliminate
 
 (C) Over time, ovens develop a buildup of food residue that gets burned into the bottom of the oven; therefore, ovens should be cleaned annually.   No contradiction, eliminate

(D) “Green” products lessen the toxic impact on the environment; therefore, people should purchase green products as one way to help the environment.   No contradiction, eliminate

(E) Stan is unpopular among the members of his team because of his temper; therefore, Stan will be removed from the team.   This looks like a disconnected argument, does being unpopular result into being removed from team? But anyways it has no direct relevance with the question stem.

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Overview:

In this question, the student is asked to consider statements made in a commercial and to select an answer choice that exhibits similarly flawed reasoning. The commercial specifically states that the product being touted, Extra-Strength Spray-On Hair Growth, will enable men to re-grow the hair that they’ve lost, claiming that if men do not try the product they will have no chance of re-growing their hair. The flaw in this reasoning is that the commercial assumes that there is no way a person will be able to re-grow his hair without using Extra-Strength Spray-On Hair Growth. But there could be other factors that will allow a person to re-grow hair (for instance, surgical implants, or another commercial hair growth product). The correct answer will mirror the structure of the argument given in the commercial. The structure is as follows: given one condition (use of Extra-Strength Spray-On Hair Growth), there is a positive result (hair re-growth); given the absence of the first condition (use of Extra-Strength Spray-On Hair Growth), there will be no chance for the positive result (hair re-growth).

The Correct Answer:

A Answer choice (A) offers the best comparison for similarly flawed reasoning. The answer choice claims that students who attend universities are more successful, so all students should attend universities in order to be successful and avoid failure. But this assumes that there is no way a student can be successful and avoid failure except by attending a university. The flaw in this is that there might be other ways a student could be successful (for instance, by attending a trade school, becoming an apprentice, or by getting a job). Answer choice (A) most closely mirrors the structure of the reasoning given in the commercial and is correct.

The Incorrect Answers:

B Answer choice (B) does not follow the same structure of the commercial; it does not first state that a positive result will follow from a certain action and then go on to claim that the only way to achieve that result is by following that action. Answer choice (B) is incorrect.

C Answer choice (C) states that ovens develop a buildup of food residue over time and thus should be cleaned immediately. But this answer does not explicitly indicate that a positive result will follow from a given action, in the way that the passage does. Answer choice (C) is not immediately parallel to the argument in the passage, so it can be eliminated.

D Answer choice (D) does not indicate that the only way to lessen toxicity is to buy green cleaning products, so the argument is not immediately parallel. Answer choice (D) is incorrect.

E Answer choice (E) bears no similarity to the passage. This answer choice states that Stan is unpopular because of his temper, so he will be removed from the team; the structure here is nothing like the structure of the argument given in the commercial, so answer choice (E) is incorrect and can be eliminated immediately.

Su1206 · Answer

The argument can be structured as

If A, then B
if not A, then not B

This argument is flawed as it fails to account that C can cause B.

This means A is a necessary condition, not a sufficient condition.

We need to find a option that is flawed similarly i.e  has same structure as we just described  or takes a  necessary condition as a sufficent condition.

(A) Students who attend universities tend to be more successful in life; therefore, all students should attend a university in order to be successful and not fail in life. -  Fits the structure. This is correct answer.

(B) If you walk in the rain with your head uncovered, you will develop a cold; therefore, you should carry an umbrella. -  Follows first part of our structure (If A then B), but then deviates by giving an advice/opinion.

(C) Over time, ovens develop a buildup of food residue that gets burned into the bottom of the oven; therefore, ovens should be cleaned annually.  Incorrect. Doesnt follow If, then structure.

(D) “Green” products lessen the toxic impact on the environment; therefore, people should purchase green products as one way to help the environment.  Incorrect. Doesnt follow If, then structure.

(E) Stan is unpopular among the members of his team because of his temper; therefore, Stan will be removed from the team.  Incorrect. Doesnt follow If, then structure.

Commercial: Men who struggle with hair loss need worry no longer the

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Commercial: Men who struggle with hair loss need worry no longer the

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