Critical Reasoning

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

IMO D -- The argument says different sleeping & waking cycles (cause of the problem) cause violent arguments and thus jeopardize marriage (effect).

Option D states the reverse relationship ie violent arguments are the cause and different sleeping and waking cycles are the consequences.

Why not A?

I would go for A.

I think D actually strengthens the argument.

However, id rather hear other explanations since this CR questions are sooooo complicated

my answer is D.

Conclusion states that different sleeping & waking cycles cause violent arguments and thus jeopardize marriage.

One way to weaken the argument is that violent arguments lead to different sleeping and waking cycles.

IMO -D ,

Firstly why not A-- here is my take on this : If you observe the CR carefully - these lines :and have more violent arguments than do couples in a relationship in which both partners follow the same sleeping and waking patterns.

The argument does not rule out the fact that couples with normal sleeping patterns also argue as it mentions that couples with opposite sleeping patterns have more violent arguments,so the option A kind of repeats the premise and does not pose a view to weaken the option.

D-It clearly states that other causes are what cause violent arguments and thats what leads to -opposite sleeping patterns which is the result of arguments and not cause of arguments. So this weakens the argument as the cause is proved wrong.

insanejuxtapose wrote:IMO -D ,

Firstly why not A-- here is my take on this : If you observe the CR carefully - these lines :and have more violent arguments than do couples in a relationship in which both partners follow the same sleeping and waking patterns.

The argument does not rule out the fact that couples with normal sleeping patterns also argue as it mentions that couples with opposite sleeping patterns have more violent arguments,so the option A kind of repeats the premise and does not pose a view to weaken the option.

D-It clearly states that other causes are what cause violent arguments and thats what leads to -opposite sleeping patterns which is the result of arguments and not cause of arguments. So this weakens the argument as the cause is proved wrong.

Even I got confused between A and D, but then realized that D is a better choice.

beater wrote: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

Still have doubt between A and D.
This is a cause-effect type question.
[cause]differenent sleeping and waking pattern = [effect]can jeopardize a marriage

Now if X causes Y, weaken is possible in different ways,
1. Show Z causes Y
2. When X occurs, Y does not occur.
3. X does not occur, but Y occurs
4. Show basically Y causes X
5. Data is wrong.

Now, I want to talk about 3 and 4.
3 = A = where it shows, couples have same sleeping and waking pattern, but still marriage can jeopardize.
So, different pattern is not the reason behind this jeopardize.

4 = D = Relation is basically reversed.

Confused between A & D

In A if u see its written "occassionally they have violent arguments" but premise says "more violent arguments" and moreover whole Premise is talking about the couple who dont have the same sleeping schedule so we need to find an answer choice which talks about people having different sleeping habits as the assumption is this that "different sleeping habits causes more arguments and hence jeopardizes the marriage"......................... option D weakens this assumption by saying that its not "different sleeping habits" which causes heated arguments but its "unhappy marriages" which is responsible................

This is question from OG 12 and correct answer is D .

However , I agrree that I also had issues with option . I ,partially, agree that usage of "occasionaly" makes choice A not the correct nswer and C is better than A .

But may be original poster can PM an expert and ask for the appropriate explanation why A is wrong .

1. Sleeping pattern mismatches lead to more arguments among married people than if they have the same pattern
2. Mismatched sleeping must jeopardize a marriage

A. Incorrect. Read the passage and this information closely. The passage never says that married people with the same sleeping habits do not argue violently. It says that those who do not have the same habits have more violent arguments. All A is doing is basically restating the fact that married couples who have the same sleep schedule do have violent arguments on occasion.

B. Incorrect. Seasonality has no place in this question.

C. Incorrect. Arguing with people at work has nothing to do with the conclusion here. The passage is concerned with married people and how they interact with one another, not with those outside the relationship.

D. Correct. Essentially the passage is telling us that mismatches sleeping leads to bad marriages. Because of X, Y must happen. D gives us the information to counter it by reversing the argument and stating Because of Y, X must happen. D states that the mismatched sleeping is not a cause of bad marriages, but rather an effect of the bad marriage. The marriage is bad first so the couples chose different sleeping habits.

E. Incorrect. Nothing to do with the question.

A - INCORRECT - does not explain why different sleeping/waking cycles jeopardize marriages.
B - INCORRECT - irrelevant.
C - INCORRECT - irrelevant.
D - CORRECT - This says that it is unhappy marriages that leads to different sleeping/waking cycles and not vice versa. This is a perfect case of reversal of cause and effect.
E - INCORRECT - irrelevant.

I fully understand why (D) is correct . So I hope some expert can just address my issues with (E) and (B) .


As per (E) most people's sleep and wake cycles can be modified easily . So if they can be modified easily , then they might not exactly "jeopardize" marriages right ?
So why can't this weaken the argument ?

Also , I'm still not very clear about why (B) is incorrect . This option says that sleep and wake cycles tend to vary from season to season . If this is the case then it might be possible that the couples' sleep cycles might be out of sync for one season and 'in-sync' for another season . So this might also potentially weaken the argument right ?

Can any expert weigh in on this ?

beater wrote: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

Conclusion: The mismatched sleeping and waking cycles of the couples in the study CAUSED the couples' marital problems.

One way to weaken a CAUSAL relationship is to REVERSE it: in this case, to show that the couples' marital problems CAUSED their mismatched sleeping and waking cycles.
Answer choice D: People in unhappy marriages have been found to express hostility by adopting a different sleeping and waking cycle from that of their spouses.
In other words, a couples' marital problems can CAUSE them to adopt different sleeping and waking cycles.

The correct answer is D.

B: The sleeping and waking cycles of individuals tend to vary from season to season.
E: According to a recent study, most people's sleeping and waking cycles can be controlled and modified easily.

These answer choices have no bearing on a key FACT about the couples in the study:
One partner's sleeping and waking cycles differ from those of the other partner.
We cannot go back in time and change this FACT about the couples in the study.
Thus, B and E are irrelevant here.
The question at hand is whether this FACT about the couples CAUSED the marital problems seen in the study.

Hi Verbal Experts,
Please let me know the following -

Option A: what happens OCCASIONALLY with Married couples having same sleeping and waking patterns -- they get involved into arguments that can jeopardize their marriage.

(1) Thus, IMO,it contradicts the PREMISE/FACT given in the passage and as we know a PREMISE can't be contradicted.

(2) Moreover, we can't infer IN GENERAL on the basis of what happens OCCASIONALLY!

Am I correct ?