2016 OG CR 30

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Crystal W: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 154; Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:34 am; Thanked: 2 times

by Crystal W » Mon May 23, 2016 2:12 am

People who do regular volunteer work tend to live longer, on average, than people who do not. It has been found that "doing good," a category that certainly includes volunteer work, releases endorphins, the brain's natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. Clearly, there is a connection: Regular releases of endorphins must in some way help to extend people's lives.Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the force of the evidence given as support for the hypothesis that endorphins promote longevity?
A People who do regular volunteer work are only somewhat more likely than others to characterize the work they do for a living as "doing good."
B Although extremely high levels of endorphins could be harmful to health, such levels are never reached as a result of the natural release of endorphins.
C There are many people who have done some volunteer work but who do not do such work regularly.
D People tend not to become involved in regular volunteer work unless they are healthy and energetic to begin with.
E Releases of endorphins are responsible for the sense of well-being experienced by many long-distance runners while running.

The OA is D. Can someone explain it?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Mon May 23, 2016 2:12 am

OptimusPrep: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 410; Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2015 3:36 amFollowed by: 8 members; Location: Worldwide; Thanked: 120 times; GMAT Score:770

by OptimusPrep » Tue May 24, 2016 7:26 pm

Crystal W wrote:People who do regular volunteer work tend to live longer, on average, than people who do not. It has been found that "doing good," a category that certainly includes volunteer work, releases endorphins, the brain's natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. Clearly, there is a connection: Regular releases of endorphins must in some way help to extend people's lives.Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the force of the evidence given as support for the hypothesis that endorphins promote longevity?
A People who do regular volunteer work are only somewhat more likely than others to characterize the work they do for a living as "doing good."
B Although extremely high levels of endorphins could be harmful to health, such levels are never reached as a result of the natural release of endorphins.
C There are many people who have done some volunteer work but who do not do such work regularly.
D People tend not to become involved in regular volunteer work unless they are healthy and energetic to begin with.
E Releases of endorphins are responsible for the sense of well-being experienced by many long-distance runners while running.

The OA is D. Can someone explain it?

People who do volunteering tend to live longer because they feel happy because of the endorphin release.
Conclusion:Volunteering work extend's people's lives.

We need to weaken this conclusion.

1. What if something else increases the lives?
2. What if the persons are already healthy?
In these cases, we cannot conclude that endorphins released as a result of volunteering increase lives

Of the given option, option D resonates with point 2

Correct Option: D

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Crystal W: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 154; Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:34 am; Thanked: 2 times

by Crystal W » Wed May 25, 2016 11:10 pm

OptimusPrep wrote:
Crystal W wrote:People who do regular volunteer work tend to live longer, on average, than people who do not. It has been found that "doing good," a category that certainly includes volunteer work, releases endorphins, the brain's natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. Clearly, there is a connection: Regular releases of endorphins must in some way help to extend people's lives.Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the force of the evidence given as support for the hypothesis that endorphins promote longevity?
A People who do regular volunteer work are only somewhat more likely than others to characterize the work they do for a living as "doing good."
B Although extremely high levels of endorphins could be harmful to health, such levels are never reached as a result of the natural release of endorphins.
C There are many people who have done some volunteer work but who do not do such work regularly.
D People tend not to become involved in regular volunteer work unless they are healthy and energetic to begin with.
E Releases of endorphins are responsible for the sense of well-being experienced by many long-distance runners while running.

The OA is D. Can someone explain it?
People who do volunteering tend to live longer because they feel happy because of the endorphin release.
Conclusion:Volunteering work extend's people's lives.

We need to weaken this conclusion.

1. What if something else increases the lives?
2. What if the persons are already healthy?
In these cases, we cannot conclude that endorphins released as a result of volunteering increase lives

Of the given option, option D resonates with point 2

Correct Option: D

Thank you, but I am a little confused because the question is "undermines the force of the evidence", not the "conclusion". Can you explain more?

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Poisson: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 31; Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2012 1:31 am

by Poisson » Mon Jul 04, 2016 7:27 am

Crystal W wrote:
OptimusPrep wrote:
Crystal W wrote:People who do regular volunteer work tend to live longer, on average, than people who do not. It has been found that "doing good," a category that certainly includes volunteer work, releases endorphins, the brain's natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. Clearly, there is a connection: Regular releases of endorphins must in some way help to extend people's lives.Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the force of the evidence given as support for the hypothesis that endorphins promote longevity?
A People who do regular volunteer work are only somewhat more likely than others to characterize the work they do for a living as "doing good."
B Although extremely high levels of endorphins could be harmful to health, such levels are never reached as a result of the natural release of endorphins.
C There are many people who have done some volunteer work but who do not do such work regularly.
D People tend not to become involved in regular volunteer work unless they are healthy and energetic to begin with.
E Releases of endorphins are responsible for the sense of well-being experienced by many long-distance runners while running.

The OA is D. Can someone explain it?
People who do volunteering tend to live longer because they feel happy because of the endorphin release.
Conclusion:Volunteering work extend's people's lives.

We need to weaken this conclusion.

1. What if something else increases the lives?
2. What if the persons are already healthy?
In these cases, we cannot conclude that endorphins released as a result of volunteering increase lives

Of the given option, option D resonates with point 2

Correct Option: D
Thank you, but I am a little confused because the question is "undermines the force of the evidence", not the "conclusion". Can you explain more?

Hello,

I also thought this. Because of the wording of the question, it seemed to be asking to undermine the force of the evidence and not the conclusion. I though this was odd. I interpreted this to mean undermine sentence 2. Between D and E, I picked E. Could someone please help explain the logic in this question? Thanks

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DavidG@VeritasPrep: Legendary Member; Posts: 2663; Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 amFollowed by: 128 members; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 1153 times; GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Mon Jul 04, 2016 10:21 am

Poisson wrote:
Crystal W wrote:
OptimusPrep wrote:
Crystal W wrote:People who do regular volunteer work tend to live longer, on average, than people who do not. It has been found that "doing good," a category that certainly includes volunteer work, releases endorphins, the brain's natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. Clearly, there is a connection: Regular releases of endorphins must in some way help to extend people's lives.Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the force of the evidence given as support for the hypothesis that endorphins promote longevity?
A People who do regular volunteer work are only somewhat more likely than others to characterize the work they do for a living as "doing good."
B Although extremely high levels of endorphins could be harmful to health, such levels are never reached as a result of the natural release of endorphins.
C There are many people who have done some volunteer work but who do not do such work regularly.
D People tend not to become involved in regular volunteer work unless they are healthy and energetic to begin with.
E Releases of endorphins are responsible for the sense of well-being experienced by many long-distance runners while running.

The OA is D. Can someone explain it?
People who do volunteering tend to live longer because they feel happy because of the endorphin release.
Conclusion:Volunteering work extend's people's lives.

We need to weaken this conclusion.

1. What if something else increases the lives?
2. What if the persons are already healthy?
In these cases, we cannot conclude that endorphins released as a result of volunteering increase lives

Of the given option, option D resonates with point 2

Correct Option: D
Thank you, but I am a little confused because the question is "undermines the force of the evidence", not the "conclusion". Can you explain more?
Hello,

I also thought this. Because of the wording of the question, it seemed to be asking to undermine the force of the evidence and not the conclusion. I though this was odd. I interpreted this to mean undermine sentence 2. Between D and E, I picked E. Could someone please help explain the logic in this question? Thanks

To undermine the force of the evidence is to undermine the logic of how the evidence leads to the conclusion, not to undermine (or refute) the evidence itself. This is typically what we're doing in weaken questions.

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Mo2men: Legendary Member; Posts: 712; Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 4:39 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 14 times

by Mo2men » Sun Feb 24, 2019 1:43 am

Crystal W wrote:People who do regular volunteer work tend to live longer, on average, than people who do not. It has been found that "doing good," a category that certainly includes volunteer work, releases endorphins, the brain's natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. Clearly, there is a connection: Regular releases of endorphins must in some way help to extend people's lives.Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the force of the evidence given as support for the hypothesis that endorphins promote longevity?
A People who do regular volunteer work are only somewhat more likely than others to characterize the work they do for a living as "doing good."
B Although extremely high levels of endorphins could be harmful to health, such levels are never reached as a result of the natural release of endorphins.
C There are many people who have done some volunteer work but who do not do such work regularly.
D People tend not to become involved in regular volunteer work unless they are healthy and energetic to begin with.
E Releases of endorphins are responsible for the sense of well-being experienced by many long-distance runners while running.

The OA is D. Can someone explain it?

Dear GMATGuru

Premise:
Volunteering........> long life
Volunteering........> Endorphins

The conclusion states causal relationship: Endorphins........> longevity.

I do not understand how the OA weaken the argument? How does it weaken the causal relationship here? Does it offer another alternative cause? or reverse the relation? if the latter, does 'healthy' mean long live make them do volunteering?

Thanks in advance

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Mon Feb 25, 2019 4:13 am

Mo2men wrote:
Crystal W wrote:People who do regular volunteer work tend to live longer, on average, than people who do not. It has been found that "doing good," a category that certainly includes volunteer work, releases endorphins, the brain's natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. Clearly, there is a connection: Regular releases of endorphins must in some way help to extend people's lives.Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the force of the evidence given as support for the hypothesis that endorphins promote longevity?
A People who do regular volunteer work are only somewhat more likely than others to characterize the work they do for a living as "doing good."
B Although extremely high levels of endorphins could be harmful to health, such levels are never reached as a result of the natural release of endorphins.
C There are many people who have done some volunteer work but who do not do such work regularly.
D People tend not to become involved in regular volunteer work unless they are healthy and energetic to begin with.
E Releases of endorphins are responsible for the sense of well-being experienced by many long-distance runners while running.

The OA is D. Can someone explain it?
Dear GMATGuru

Premise:
Volunteering........> long life
Volunteering........> Endorphins

The conclusion states causal relationship: Endorphins........> longevity.

I do not understand how the OA weaken the argument? How does it weaken the causal relationship here? Does it offer another alternative cause? or reverse the relation? if the latter, does 'healthy' mean long live make them do volunteering?

Thanks in advance

Why do people who do regular volunteer work live longer?
The argument concludes that ENDORPHINS are the cause.
One way to weaken this conclusion is to suggest an ALTERNATE CAUSE.

D: People tend not to become involved in regular volunteer work unless they are healthy and energetic to begin with.
In other words, people who do regular volunteer work are HEALTHIER AND MORE ENERGETIC than those who don't.
Implication:
The volunteers' longevity is caused NOT by endorphins but by BETTER HEALTH AND GREATER ENERGY, weakening the conclusion that endorphins promote longevity.

The correct answer is D.

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