Married Couples

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Married Couples

by fighting_cax » Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:43 pm
A study of marital relationships in which one partner’s sleeping and waking cycles differ from those of the other partner reveals that such couples share fewer activities with each other and have more violent arguments than do couples in a relationship in which both partners follow the same sleeping and waking patterns. Thus, mismatched sleeping and waking cycles can seriously jeopardize a marriage.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?
(A) Married couples in which both spouses follow the same sleeping and waking patterns also occasionally have arguments that can jeopardize the couple’s marriage.
(B) The sleeping and waking cycles of individuals tend to vary from season to season.
(C) The individuals who have sleeping and waking cycles that differ significantly from those of their spouses tend to argue little with colleagues at work.
(D) People in unhappy marriages have been found to express hostility by adopting a different sleeping and waking cycle from that of their spouses.
(E) According to a recent study, most people’s sleeping and waking cycles can be controlled and modified easily.

OA is D

Please explain.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by 4seasoncentre » Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:50 pm
The passage is implying a cause and effect relationship that looks like this:

Different sleep patterns -----> unhappy marriage

D suggests an alternate theory

unhappy marriage -------> different sleep patterns

A) this does not disagree with the passage. The passage says different sleep pattern CAN jeopardize a marriage, but doesn't say that every couple that argues has different sleep patterns.
B) not concerned with individual behaviour
C) not concerned with conflicts at work
E) not concerned if the problem can be fixed

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by kris77 » Fri May 13, 2016 11:27 pm
The official answer is D. But I don't understand why? Can anyone explain