Critical Reasoning

Although custom prosthetic bone replacements produced through a new computer-aided design process will cost more than twice as much as ordinary replacements, custom replacements should still be cost-effective. Not only will surgery and recovery time be reduced, but custom replacements should last longer, thereby reducing the need for further hospital stays.

Which of the following must be studied in order to evaluate the argument presented above?

(A) The amount of time a patient spends in surgery versus the amount of time spent recovering from surgery
(8) The amount by which the cost of producing custom replacements has declined with the introduction of the new technique for producing them
(C) The degree to which the use of custom replacements is likely to reduce the need for repeat surgery when compared with the use of ordinary replacements
(D) The degree to which custom replacements produced with the new technique are more carefully
manufactured than are ordinary replacements
(E) The amount by which custom replacements produced with the new technique will drop in cost as the production procedures become standardized and applicable on a larger scale

OA: C

This is A vs C.

OG13 Problem

richachampion wrote:Although custom prosthetic bone replacements produced through a new computer-aided design process will cost more than twice as much as ordinary replacements, custom replacements should still be cost-effective. Not only will surgery and recovery time be reduced, but custom replacements should last longer, thereby reducing the need for further hospital stays.

Which of the following must be studied in order to evaluate the argument presented above?

(A) The amount of time a patient spends in surgery versus the amount of time spent recovering from surgery
(8) The amount by which the cost of producing custom replacements has declined with the introduction of the new technique for producing them
(C) The degree to which the use of custom replacements is likely to reduce the need for repeat surgery when compared with the use of ordinary replacements
(D) The degree to which custom replacements produced with the new technique are more carefully
manufactured than are ordinary replacements
(E) The amount by which custom replacements produced with the new technique will drop in cost as the production procedures become standardized and applicable on a larger scale

OA: C

This is A vs C.

OG13 Problem

Conclusion: Custom replacements will be cost effective despite costing twice as much as ordinary replacements

Premise: Surgery + Recovery time reduced with custom replacements, and custom replacements last longer, reducing future hospital stays

Essentially, we've got pros and cons for custom replacements. The main con is that the upfront cost is substantially more. And that con, supposedly, is offset by the pros of reduced surgery/recovery time, fewer future hospital stays. So the main question becomes: is there any other cost or benefit that we're missing in our analysis?

'A' is irrelevant. We're comparing custom vs ordinary replacements, and we already know that surgery and recovery time are both reduced when using custom replacements. How those times compare to each other does not impact the decision. (And ultimately, we care about cost, not convenience.)

'C' sheds light on another potential benefit of the custom replacement. If the patient is less likely to need future operations with a custom replacement, that would certainly suggest potential cost savings for this method.

richachampion wrote:Although custom prosthetic bone replacements produced through a new computer-aided design process will cost more than twice as much as ordinary replacements, custom replacements should still be cost-effective. Not only will surgery and recovery time be reduced, but custom replacements should last longer, thereby reducing the need for further hospital stays.

Which of the following must be studied in order to evaluate the argument presented above?

(A) The amount of time a patient spends in surgery versus the amount of time spent recovering from surgery
(8) The amount by which the cost of producing custom replacements has declined with the introduction of the new technique for producing them
(C) The degree to which the use of custom replacements is likely to reduce the need for repeat surgery when compared with the use of ordinary replacements
(D) The degree to which custom replacements produced with the new technique are more carefully
manufactured than are ordinary replacements
(E) The amount by which custom replacements produced with the new technique will drop in cost as the production procedures become standardized and applicable on a larger scale

I received a PM requesting that I comment.

Conclusion: Custom replacements will be cost-effective.

Rephrase the answer choices as STRONGLY WORDED STATEMENTS.
The correct rephrase will either STRENGTHEN or WEAKEN the conclusion that custom replacements will be cost-effective, enabling us to EVALUATE whether this conclusion is valid.

C, rephrased:
The use of custom replacements will greatly reduce the need for repeat surgery when compared with the use of ordinary replacements.
This rephrase clearly STRENGTHENS the conclusion that custom replacements will be cost-effective.

The correct answer is C.

A, rephrased:
The time spent in surgery is much greater than the time spent recovering from surgery.
Since custom replacements will reduce both types of time, a comparison between the two types of time is irrelevant.
Eliminate A.