BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Target Test Prep · GMAT

Choose how you want to prepare

Learn live with an expert or move at your own pace. Every option includes the complete TTP study system.

★★★★★5.0563 reviews
Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards 2026 winner: Target Test Prep, #1 Test Prep
NEWSWEEK READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS 2026

Target Test Prep was voted #1 Best Test Prep in the 2026 Newsweek Readers’ Choice™ Awards.

GMATLiveTeach Starts Oct 17
Chris Peckover, Target Test Prep GMAT expert
LIVE ONLINE CLASSES

Get Ready for GMAT Test Day Faster with Live Online Classes

with Chris Peckover, 100th-Percentile GMAT Scorer

Oct 17 · Chris Peckover
Sat · 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM ET
Oct 20 · Chris Peckover
Tue, Thu · 8:00 to 10:00 PM ET
Oct 25 · Josh Braslow
Sun · 1:00 to 4:00 PM ET
Included
40 hours of live online classes + 6 months of TTP OnDemand
  • Attend the first class for free
  • Every class is recorded, so you never fall behind
View classes & enroll
Limited seats availableTarget Test Prep
EALiveTeachOnDemand 5 seats left Start anytime
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

Target Test Prep EA OnDemand

Self-paced EA prep. Study on your schedule.

Logan Thompson
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

Sep 6 to Dec 6, 2026

with Logan Thompson

165+ EA score guarantee
$05-day trial no automatic billing
Schedule
Sun · 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM ET
Included
40 hours of live online classes plus six months of access to the complete TTP EA OnDemand course.
  • 165+ EA Score Guarantee
  • 4,100+ Quant, Verbal, and Integrated Reasoning practice questions
  • 400+ hours of in-depth video lessons
  • 3,000+ step-by-step video solutions
View EA class & enroll Start free 5-day trial
Limited cohort · enrollment openTrial includes full course accessTarget Test Prep
GMATOnDemand Start anytime
SELF-PACED MASTERCLASS

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Complete access from day one. Study on your schedule.

715+ score guarantee
$0to start then $127/mo
  • Personalized study plan and analytics
  • Thousands of lessons and practice questions

Compare the format, schedule, and included access before enrolling. Prices and seat counts shown reflect the supplied offer details.

CR: Strengthe: GMATPREP

Expert replies
by GMAT Kolaveri » Sun May 13, 2012 6:37 am
A study followed a group of teenagers who had never smoked and tracked whether they took up smoking and how their mental health changed. After one year, the incidence of depression among those who had taken up smoking was four times as high as it was among those who had not. Since nicotine in cigarettes changes brain chemistry, perhaps thereby affecting mood, it is likely that smoking contributes to depression in teenagers.

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

A. Participants who were depressed at the start of the study were no more likely to be smokers after one year than those who were not depressed.
B. The study did not distinguish between participants who smoked only occasionally and those who were heavy smokers.
C. Few, if any, of the participants in the study were friends or relatives of other participants.
D. Some participants entered and emerged from a period of depression within the year of the study.
E. The researchers did not track use of alcohol by the teenagers.
Regards and Thanks,
Vinoth@GMAT Kolaveri
https://www.facebook.com/GmatKolaveri
https://gmatkolaveri.tumblr.com/

Click the thank you button if you like my reply :)
Join the discussion
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by GMATGuruNY » Sun May 13, 2012 7:37 am
GMAT Kolaveri wrote:A study followed a group of teenagers who had never smoked and tracked whether they took up smoking and how their mental health changed. After one year, the incidence of depression among those who had taken up smoking was four times as high as it was among those who had not. Since nicotine in cigarettes changes brain chemistry, perhaps thereby affecting mood, it is likely that smoking contributes to depression in teenagers.

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

A. Participants who were depressed at the start of the study were no more likely to be smokers after one year than those who were not depressed.
B. The study did not distinguish between participants who smoked only occasionally and those who were heavy smokers.
C. Few, if any, of the participants in the study were friends or relatives of other participants.
D. Some participants entered and emerged from a period of depression within the year of the study.
E. The researchers did not track use of alcohol by the teenagers.
This CR concludes that X causes Y: that smoking CAUSES depression.

One way to WEAKEN this type of CR is to show that the causal relationship actually works IN REVERSE: that Y (in this case, depression) causes X (in this case, smoking).

Answer choice A: Participants who were depressed at the start of the study WERE NO MORE LIKELY TO BE SMOKERS after one year than those who were not depressed.
This answer choice RULES OUT the possibility that depression causes smoking.
By ruling out this possibility, answer choice A STRENGTHENS the conclusion that smoking causes depression.

The correct answer is A.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
Join the discussion

by Birottam Dutta » Sun May 13, 2012 7:40 am
The correct answer is A.

This can be easily achieved through elimination of the other options which are very out of context.

A shows that depression does not cause smoking and that only the converse is true.

Hence, A!
Join the discussion

by [email protected] » Thu Mar 06, 2014 10:43 pm
The Q shared is very educative.
See, there are 5 five ways to strengthen an argument in cause-effect relationship:-
1.There are no other causes to the effect than the cause mentioned.
2.the reverse i.e the effect doesn't cause the "cause". ( Applicable to this Q)
3.when cause is not present the effect is also not present.
4. when the effect is not present the cause is also not present.
5. the facts that support the cause-effect relationship, are true/valid/without any loop-holes.

I'm certain that these points will help you.

If you like my comment, do click "THANKS".
Join the discussion