During the three months before and the three months after a

Question

During the three months before and the three months after a major earthquake in California, students at a college there happened to be keeping a record of their dreams. After experiencing the earthquake, half of the students reported dreaming about earthquakes. During the same six months, a group of college students in Ontario who had never experienced an earthquake also recorded their dreams. Almost none of the students in Ontario reported dreaming about earthquakes. So it is clear that experiencing an earthquake can cause people to dream about earthquakes. 

Which of the following , if true, most strengthens the argument?

A) before the california earthquake, no more of the students in California than those in Ontario recorded dreams about earthquakes

b) the students in California were members of a class studying dreams and dream recollection, but the students in Ontario were not.

c) Before they started keeping records of their dreams,, many of the students in California had experienced at least one earthquake.

D) the students in Ontario reported having more dreams overall, per student, than the students in California did.

E) the students in Ontario who reported having dreams about earthquatkes recored the dreams as having occurred after the California earthquake.

HIMALAYA · Answer

little confusing between A and C. 

chosed A before. but should go with C.

giddi77 · Answer

Vote for (C)

A and E distantly support the same idea. C seems to support the conclusion better.

joemama142000 · Answer

oa is A


I also chose C at first

HIMALAYA · Answer

i posted A before as "many" doesnot tell anymore. ok i was correct but could not stood with it for a long..............

joemama142000 · Answer

its ok himalaya, this was a confusing one. I still dont get A. I used pOE to get to a and C

plsubbu · Answer

It is definitely A. The argument can be strengthened only if the group of people who have started seeing these dreams did not see it before the earthquake. A birgs out this reasoning.

joemama142000 · Answer

thanks plsubbu that makes sense

TeHCM · Answer

Yes answer is A ETS loves to test these kind of questions where it presents ratios/numbers to present cause-effect :rocket

One way to weaken the argument is to find out the relative umber for the before event and see if the effect would still stand.

ps_dahiya · Answer

Himalaya, Always trust your first instinct. I was in the same situtation but got A due to first instinct.

HIMALAYA · Answer

i will. thankx....................................

Bhai · Answer

I got A. Here is my reasoning. Both califorians and ontarians recorded and recollected dreams. But if during the pre-earthquake period the size of earthquake dreamers are not realistically compared then the experiment would not lend support. So before the earthquake both the number of dreamer should be approximatley same.

akela · Answer

During the three months before and the three
months after a major earthquake in California,
students at a college there happened to be keeping a
record of their dreams. After experiencing the
earthquake, half of the students reported dreaming
about earthquakes. During the same six months, a
group of college students in Ontario who had never
experienced an earthquake also recorded their drams.
Almost none of the students in Ontario reported
dreaming about earthquakes. So it is clear that
experiencing an earthquake can cause people to
dream about earthquakes.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens
the argument?

(A) Before the California earthquake, no more of
the students in California than of those in
Ontario recorded dreams about earthquakes.
(B) The students in California were members of a
class studying dreams and dream recollection,
but the students in Ontario were not.
(C) Before they started keeping records of their
dreams, many of the students in California
had experienced at least one earthquake.
(D) The students in Ontario reported having more
dreams overall, per student, than the students
in California did.
(E) The students in Ontario who reported having
dreams about earthquakes recorded the
dreams as having occurred after the
California earthquake.

Sourc: LSAT

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