Betting on sports

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BTGmoderatorDC: Moderator; Posts: 7187; Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:43 pmFollowed by: 23 members

by BTGmoderatorDC » Thu Feb 01, 2018 5:45 pm

Betting on sports, even for small stakes among friends, is a form of gambling. Therefore, no police officer should ever bet on sports.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the conclusion that no police officer should ever bet on sports?

A Gambling is illegal in many states and countries.
B Some people who bet on sports are convicted criminals.
C People who bet on sports sometimes can ill afford to lose the amounts they gamble.
D No police officer should ever gamble.
E Many philosophers consider gambling to be immoral.

What is wrong with option C?

OA D

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Thu Feb 01, 2018 5:45 pm

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 » Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:07 am

lheiannie07 wrote:Betting on sports, even for small stakes among friends, is a form of gambling. Therefore, no police officer should ever bet on sports.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the conclusion that no police officer should ever bet on sports?

A Gambling is illegal in many states and countries.
B Some people who bet on sports are convicted criminals.
C People who bet on sports sometimes can ill afford to lose the amounts they gamble.
D No police officer should ever gamble.
E Many philosophers consider gambling to be immoral.

What is wrong with option C?

OA D

Conclusion: No officer should bet on sports
Premise: Betting on sports is a form of gambling
The conclusion only makes sense if officers shouldn't gamble. (If it were acceptable for them to gamble, why would it matter if they bet on sports?) This is what we get from D

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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 » Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:10 am

lheiannie07 wrote: What is wrong with option C?

C doesn't address why police officers, specifically, should not bet on sports. Moreover it does nothing to foster the connection between gambling and betting on sports, the link the entire argument is predicated on.

(It's also helpful to mentally translate "some" to "at least one." Why would it matter to the argument that there's someone somewhere who can't afford to lose money gambling?)

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wuddybee: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Wed May 03, 2023 9:09 am

Re: Betting on sports

by wuddybee » Wed May 03, 2023 9:10 am

Thanks for the thought-provoking question and the replies in this thread!

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