Critical Reasoning

Asbestos, an almost indestructible mineral once installed as building insulation, poses no health risk unless the asbestos is disturbed and asbestos fibers are released into the environment. Since removing asbestos from buildings disturbs it, thereby releasing asbestos fibers, the government should not require removal of all asbestos insulation.
Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

(A) Asbestos poses far less risk to health than does smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, improper diet or lack of exercise.
(B) Asbestos can post a health threat to workers who remove it without wearing required protective gear.
(C) Some kinds of asbestos, when disturbed, pose greater health risks than do other kinds.
(D) Asbestos is inevitably disturbed by building renovations or building demolition.
(E) Much of the time, removed asbestos is buried in landfills and forgotten with no guarantee that it will not be disturbed again.

OA is E

Argument deconstructing:-
Since removing Asbestos ---> disturbs it ----> thereby releasing Asbestos fibers ---> posing health risk.
therefore, the Govt. should not require removal of all Asbestos insulation

So, some Asbestos can be removed. Why ? because there is no disturbance while removing, so no releasing of Asbestos fibers, and posing no health risk.

Same way some cannot be removed. Why ? because there is disturbance while removing, so releasing of Asbestos fibers, and posing health risk.

What C is wrong ? Is it because of "greater" ?

Please help me in understanding and eliminating C.

Thank you

vinni.k wrote:Asbestos, an almost indestructible mineral once installed as building insulation, poses no health risk unless the asbestos is disturbed and asbestos fibers are released into the environment. Since removing asbestos from buildings disturbs it, thereby releasing asbestos fibers, the government should not require removal of all asbestos insulation.
Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

(A) Asbestos poses far less risk to health than does smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, improper diet or lack of exercise.
(B) Asbestos can post a health threat to workers who remove it without wearing required protective gear.
(C) Some kinds of asbestos, when disturbed, pose greater health risks than do other kinds.
(D) Asbestos is inevitably disturbed by building renovations or building demolition.
(E) Much of the time, removed asbestos is buried in landfills and forgotten with no guarantee that it will not be disturbed again.

Premise: Asbestos poses no health risk unless it is disturbed, and removing asbestos from buildings disturbs it.
Conclusion: The government should not require removal of all asbestos insulation.

E: Much of the time, removed asbestos is buried in landfills and forgotten with no guarantee that it will not be disturbed again.
Here, the removal of asbestos might lead to its disturbance long after the substance has been buried in landfills, posing a health risk and STRENGTHENING the conclusion that the government should not require removal of all asbestos insulation.

The correct answer is E.

A premise is a FACT.
It cannot be strengthened or weakened.
Any answer choice that attempts to strengthen or weaken a premise is WRONG.

C: Some kinds of asbestos, when disturbed, pose greater health risks than do other kinds.
This option attempts to affect the PREMISE that asbestos poses no health risk unless it is disturbed.
In accordance with the rule in red, eliminate C.

Thanks Mitch,

What you are saying is that C is affecting the premise.
Please help me in understanding how C's comparison is affecting the premise.

According to C there are kinds of asbestos, so suppose 1 kind asbestos gets disturb, poses greater health risk, and the other 99 also get disturb, pose less health risk, but all kinds pose health risk whether greater or lesser, it doesn't
matter. All kinds are affecting the PREMISE that asbestos poses no health risk unless it is disturbed.

Am i correct or Is there way also to eliminate C ?

According to C there are kinds of asbestos, so suppose 1 kind asbestos gets disturb, poses greater health risk, and the other 99 also get disturb, pose less health risk, but all kinds pose health risk whether greater or lesser, it doesn't
matter. All kinds are affecting the PREMISE that asbestos poses no health risk unless it is disturbed.

Am i correct or Is there way also to eliminate C ?

The argument isn't concerned with the magnitude of the risk of various types of asbestos. As you noted, even if there are 99 less toxic forms of asbestos, it's still bad if those are ingested. In other words, we can't question the premise that we don't want people ingesting asbestos fibers. That's a given. The issue is whether removal will lead to ingestion.

Hi Verbal Experts,
Can any of you please let us know what is the source of this CR ? Is it an Official Qs ?

Hi Verbal Experts,
Any update on my above concern ?
Would much appreciate your feedback. Thanks in advance!

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi Verbal Experts,
Can any of you please let us know what is the source of this CR ? Is it an Official Qs ?

The CR above appeared on the LSAT.

Thanks Mitch for confirming.
One IMPORTANT question to ask here (and I think, it'll be crucial for all of us to know it): should we consider practicing LSAT material such as this one ? How close such LSAT questions are to real GMAT CR problems ?
Look forward to know your thoughts!

should we consider practicing LSAT material such as this one ? How close such LSAT questions are to real GMAT CR problems ?

Different instructors have different philosophies when it comes to how worthwhile LSAT material is when preparing for the GMAT. There is plenty of overlap between Q-types, but there are certain types of questions that you'd only see on the LSAT, so clearly that wouldn't be time well spent. My feeling is that there's a lot of good official GMAT material - between the official guides and the question pack, you're talking about a few hundred questions. So I'd only consider LSAT material if you'd thoroughly exhausted the official GMAT material and feel as though you have a deep understanding of those questions.