Critical Reasoning

A recent research study of undergraduate students analyzed the effects of music on human emotions. Each of the 200 participants attended at least 1 two-hour concert of classical music per week over the course of 12 weeks of their spring semester. At the end of the experiment, all of the students filled out a questionnaire assessing their emotional state. Based on the results of the questionnaires, all of the 10 students who attended the greatest number of concerts reported lower stress levels and higher satisfaction with their lives. Also, most of the 20 students who attended the fewest number of concerts reported below-average levels of emotional comfort.


Which of the following must be true based on the evidence presented above?
a) Most of the 200 participants improved their emotional state and lowered their stress levels.

b) During each week of the experiment, the participants spent at least 2 hours less on their academic work as a result of concert attendance.

c) Listening to classical music for at least 2 hours per week improves the emotional well-being of the majority of young adults.

d) More than 6 participants attended at least 14 concerts during the course of the experiment.

e) At least some of the students participated in the study in order to gain free access to classical concerts.

Not very convinced of any answer.

But the closest is b) During each week of the experiment, the participants spent at least 2 hours less on their academic work as a result of concert attendance.

My problem with b is that we are assuming that students spent course time in attending cocnerts.

A: Most: Red Flag.
C: No proof that music improves well being. only 10 plus 20 students data is reported.
D: no data.
E: Free access? No proof either.

My Ans: D
To save time i used POE:
A:Most...we are given data for 10
B:2hrs. spent on music = 2hrs. spent less on academic stuff...not in Argument
C:majority of adults ? Not sure
D:involves some mental calculation and might be the correct answer
E:free access... never stated in argument

i originally picked (D) too, but thinking more about it afterwards, it can't be 100% proved based off the stem. you can't say with certainty that participants attended at least 14 concerts.

i think Vineesh got it dead on with (B).

"Each of the 200 participants attended at least 1 two-hour concert of classical music per week over the course of 12 weeks of their spring semester."


(B) has to be true, since 200 participants attended a minimum of one 2-hr concert during the spring semester.

A tough one !!

I am confused between A and C

IMO B

rohu27 wrote:A recent research study of undergraduate students analyzed the effects of music on human emotions. Each of the 200 participants attended at least 1 two-hour concert of classical music per week over the course of 12 weeks of their spring semester. At the end of the experiment, all of the students filled out a questionnaire assessing their emotional state. Based on the results of the questionnaires, all of the 10 students who attended the greatest number of concerts reported lower stress levels and higher satisfaction with their lives. Also, most of the 20 students who attended the fewest number of concerts reported below-average levels of emotional comfort.


Which of the following must be true based on the evidence presented above?
a) Most of the 200 participants improved their emotional state and lowered their stress levels.

b) During each week of the experiment, the participants spent at least 2 hours less on their academic work as a result of concert attendance.

c) Listening to classical music for at least 2 hours per week improves the emotional well-being of the majority of young adults.

d) More than 6 participants attended at least 14 concerts during the course of the experiment.

e) At least some of the students participated in the study in order to gain free access to classical concerts.

I will go for C. Let us know the OA.

IMO D

C is good but we dont have a proof that no other cause is responsible for their well being

D because atleast 1hour means >12hours... and they have chosen top 10 attendees.. 14hour course looks genuine..

D it shall be

OA is D. i arrived at i on exam using POE(D invovles a bit of math and given the time constraint on the CAT i better thought eliminate the others and go ahead with D)

option B- this cannot be inferred from the passage. may be the students cut dwn on other activites and maintained their study time costant.

C-is taking the given infor too far. if you read the stimulus it only talks abt the top 10 and bottom 20. may be people in between these did not find it useful. its an inference question remenber.

now opton D- its pure math.
this is the OE from MGMAT.

(D) CORRECT. We know that 20 students attended the fewest number of concerts, 10 students attended the greatest number of concerts, and the remaining 170 students attended some other number of concerts in between. The term 'greatest' indicates that there are at least 3 different numbers of concerts attended by the students (as opposed to 'greater' to distinguish between 2 different numbers). Since each of the participants attended at least one concert per week during the 12 weeks of the experiment, all of the study participants must have attended at least 12 concerts. Even if the 20 bottom students attended the smallest possible number of concerts (i.e. 12), it must be the case that the next 170 students in the middle attended at least one more (i.e. at least 13 concerts) and the 10 most active participants must have attended at least one more than the middle group, i.e at least 14 concerts. Thus, it must be true that the 10 most active participants (i.e. more than 6 participants) attended at least 14 concerts, as stated in this answer choice. Note that if the students attended more concerts than the minimum requirement, the number of students with at least 14 concerts attended will be even greater, still validating the accuracy of this statement.

rohu27 wrote:OA is D. i arrived at i on exam using POE(D invovles a bit of math and given the time constraint on the CAT i better thought eliminate the others and go ahead with D)

option B- this cannot be inferred from the passage. may be the students cut dwn on other activites and maintained their study time costant.

C-is taking the given infor too far. if you read the stimulus it only talks abt the top 10 and bottom 20. may be people in between these did not find it useful. its an inference question remenber.

now opton D- its pure math.
this is the OE from MGMAT.

(D) CORRECT. We know that 20 students attended the fewest number of concerts, 10 students attended the greatest number of concerts, and the remaining 170 students attended some other number of concerts in between. The term 'greatest' indicates that there are at least 3 different numbers of concerts attended by the students (as opposed to 'greater' to distinguish between 2 different numbers). Since each of the participants attended at least one concert per week during the 12 weeks of the experiment, all of the study participants must have attended at least 12 concerts. Even if the 20 bottom students attended the smallest possible number of concerts (i.e. 12), it must be the case that the next 170 students in the middle attended at least one more (i.e. at least 13 concerts) and the 10 most active participants must have attended at least one more than the middle group, i.e at least 14 concerts. Thus, it must be true that the 10 most active participants (i.e. more than 6 participants) attended at least 14 concerts, as stated in this answer choice. Note that if the students attended more concerts than the minimum requirement, the number of students with at least 14 concerts attended will be even greater, still validating the accuracy of this statement.

nice Q I must say. Thanks for sharing this one.