Critical Reasoning

. Ordinary mountain sickness, a common condition among mountain climbers, and one from which most people can recover, is caused by the characteristic shortage of oxygen in the atmosphere at high altitudes. Cerebral edema, a rarer disruption of blood circulation in the brain that quickly becomes life-threatening if not correctly treated from its onset, can also be caused by a shortage of oxygen. Since the symptoms of cerebral edema resemble those of ordinary mountain sickness, cerebral edema is especially dangerous at high altitudes.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

(A) The treatment for ordinary mountain sickness differs from the treatment for cerebral edema.
(B) Cerebral edema can cause those who suffer from it to slip into a coma within a few hours.
(C) Unlike cerebral edema, ordinary mountain sickness involves no disruption of blood circulation in the brain.
(D) Shortage of oxygen at extremely high altitude is likely to affect thinking processes and cause errors of judgment.
(E) Most people who suffer from ordinary mountain sickness recover without any special treatment.

I could be wrong here, but I would say A. The conclusion is that "Since the symptoms of cerebral edema resemble those of ordinary mountain sickness, cerebral edema is especially dangerous at high altitudes." That assumes that people would ignore ordinary mountain sickness, since it's easy to recover from, and that they might therefore accidentally ignore the symptoms of cerebral edema, increasing the risk that it will become life-threatening in the absence of treatment. But if the treatment for the two conditions is the same, then as long as people seek treatment for ordinary mountain sickness, they are at no increased risk for cerebral edema based on confusing the two conditions.

Ans a
reason for ordinary mountain sickness and cerebral enderma is same i.e shortage of oxygen.So unless treatment for cerebral enderma is different from that of mountain sickness,it will be an ordinary problem and not a dangerous one as it can easily be treated.

I also fell the answer to be A
The only situation in which the desiase could so dangerous is when it can't be cured, and this will happen only if one mistake the symptoms and choosed incorect cure

Great question.

I was between A and C...Opted for C. Because author says that most people can recover from the mountain sickness, which is not with Cerebral edema.

Cerebral edema, a rarer disruption of blood circulation in the brain

I go with C

I choose "A"

What's the official answer?

I would say A

Answer A seems to be logical one out of other answer choices