Critical Reasoning

It is a well know fact that eating warm food can prevent seasonal flu related diseases.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Gary, who regularly eats hot honey with Ginger juice
has not had a single incidence of seasonal influenza over the last five years.

Select all possible strengtheners for the passage( There are 3 strengtheners )

i. Ginger and honey are well documented foods that boost the immune system against flu related illnesses

ii. Lipton started selling hot honey and Ginger teat that claims to boost the immune system against seasonal diseases

iii. Warm foods can prevent flu

iv. Gary has not taken a single sick day from work over the last five years

v. In 1995, when Gary was in active duty in Vietnam, where he could not get regular supply of hot ginger and honey, he contracted flu thrice.

I have a question, but only after your contributions.

Thanks.

Source: E-gmat Application test

IMO this is not a GMAT type question. You will have only 1 right answer on the GMAT.

In any case, IMO, the answers to this question are [spoiler]i), iv) and v)[/spoiler]

[spoiler]ii)[/spoiler] seems to be out of scope as what Lipton sells does not strengthen the passage. [spoiler]iii)[/spoiler] just re-states what is mentioned in the passage.

Agreed, gmat only asks for i correct answer, but i only want to understand the
concept for strengthening questions.

That said, if [spoiler](iii)[/spoiler]restates the content of the passage, what
do you say about [spoiler](iv)[/spoiler]?

It is not explicitly mentioned in the passage that Gary has not taken a single sick day from work over the last five years. Warm food can prevent flu is already mentioned in the passage and does nothing to strengthen the passage.

Having said the above, if this were a GMAT question I would not choose [spoiler]iv)[/spoiler]. You can argue that Gary has not taken a sick day from work over the last five years because of reasons other than his regular eating of hot honey and ginger juice ( probably vaccinations?). If this were a GMAT question I would choose [spoiler]V)[/spoiler]

BTW, what is the OA?

Hello gmatdriller..can you provide the OA please... it help us understand whether we are correct or wrong and in turn helps us improve...

Thank You.

HI Gmatdriller.


Please post OA along with the OE's. I am sure EGMAT provides explanations for their answers

Please view the attached for the OE and logical structure as explained by e-gmat.

ASSUMPTIONS
i. Hot honey with ginger juice is considered warm food...
ii. Seasonal influenza is considered flu related illness
iii. No other reason is responsible for Gary not having a single incidence of seasonal influenza

(i) and (ii) are derived from the logical structure of the passage. These 2 assumptions link the terms in the premise with the terms in the conclusion.
Assumption (iii) is derived from the implicit assumption made for C&E passages. This assumption eliminates the presence of alternate reason for the effect.

OEs:

(I). This choice provides evidence that ginger and honey prevent flu related illnesses

(II). This choice provides evidence that hot ginger and honey may have properties that can help boost the immune system against seasonal illnesses. Since flu is a seasonal illness as stated in the passage, this choice strengthens our believe in the concluded causality.

(III). This statement re-states the premise and hence cannot be the assumption since an assumption has to present new information.

(IV). The author concludes that Gary has not had a single incidence of seasonal influenza over the last 5 years. This does not necessarily require that Gary did not a single sick day. He may have fallen sick due to bacterial infection or stomach issues or any other non-influenza related illness. Thus, this choice is not required to be true for the conclusion to hold true.

(V). This choice is strengthener because it presents an evidence that shows that when cause did not happen, the effect did not happen

OAs are I, II, and V.

per solution for (V), is it a good logic for cause(C) and effect (E)
questions to use "Not C, Not E" as a strengthener?

Am asking because I have seen it that the logic is not a good logical
reasoning; or am i mixing up something?

hello any response please

if C --> E
is it a good strengthening logic to assume that
Not C, then Not E(i.e if cause does not take place, effect does not happen)

IMO - II, III, IV

I - Incorrect as this statement is taking about benefits of just ginger and honey tea. But argument is talking about Hot ginger and honey tea. So irrelevant.
II - Strengthens
III Strengthen as just reinforcing it what is said in argument. I don't see this argument either weakening or irrelevant to the question
iV - Irrelevant
V Strengthens

Thanks