Evaluate the argument

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Evaluate the argument

by pritam.ryders » Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:01 am
When people engage in activities that help others, their brain releases endorphins, the brain's natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. It has been suggested that regular release of endorphins increases people's longevity.

And a statistic on adults who regularly engage in volunteer work helping others shows that they live longer, on average, than adults who do not volunteer. However, that statistic would be what we would expect even if volunteering does not boost longevity, because ________________________

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A. In the communities studied, women were much more likely to do regular volunteer work than men were, and women tend to live longer than men do.
B. The number of young adults who do regular volunteer work is on the increase
C. The feelings of well-being induced by endorphins can, at least for a time, mask the symptoms of various conditions and diseases, provided the symptoms are mild.
D. It is rare for a person to keep up a regular schedule of volunteer work throughout his or her life.
E. Some people find that keeping a commitment to do regular volunteer work becomes a source of stress in their lives.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by [email protected] » Wed Jan 29, 2014 5:13 pm
Hi pritam.ryders,

This CR question is an example of a "fill in the blank" inference question. After reading through the given information, you'll need to pick the answer that matches the given information and logically completes the last sentence.

The Facts:
-When people who help others, their brains release endorphins.
-The regular release of Endorphins has been linked to increased longevity (the length of their lives)
-Statistics show that people who regularly engage in volunteer work live longer than those who do not volunteer.
-HOWEVER, people who regularly volunteer would be expected to live longer BECAUSE....

The keyword "however" implies some type of contrast and the keyword "because" is used to present evidence. So we need an answer that explains why people who volunteer would probably live longer anyway (and that it's not the volunteering/endorphins that are lengthening their lives).

The only answer that describes the given subject and offers another reason for living longer is A.

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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:32 pm
I would add that "what we would expect even if" is pretty key as well. This means that we're looking for something that supports the idea regardless of the endorphin explanation.
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by David@VeritasPrep » Sun Feb 02, 2014 6:53 pm
This is a GMATPrep question. It is a fill-in-the-blank question. The GMAT is moving in this direction on critical reasoning as you can read in my article "The OG 13 and the future of critical reasoning" https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/03/ ... -reasoning

I am wonder why you categorize this as an evaluate question in your subject line? I would call this a strengthen question. A fill-in-the-blank normal strengthen question (in the article that I explain another official question that is remarkably similar to this one).

You have the conclusion - basically "even though longevity correlates with volunteer work, volunteer work is not the cause of longevity" so you need to find ANOTHER CAUSE of longevity.

Choice A gives you that cause IT IS A THIRD FACTOR - women volunteer more regularly and women live longer.

It is like the old problem of the fact that in the U.S. sales of ice cream treats correlate highly with violence. More ice cream = more violent crime. So which is the cause? Does ice cream lead to violence? Or do those who have committed a violent crime break for a nice cold treat?

The answer is a third variable: temperature. 90 degrees Fahrenheit is said to be the peak of violence in the United States. It is hot enough to make people mad but anything much hotter makes it too hot to fight. And of course hot temperatures lead to sales of ice cream as well.
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Sun Feb 02, 2014 7:31 pm
David@VeritasPrep wrote:
It is like the old problem of the fact that in the U.S. sales of ice cream treats correlate highly with violence. More ice cream = more violent crime. So which is the cause? Does ice cream lead to violence? Or do those who have committed a violent crime break for a nice cold treat?
I use this example in all of my CR classes.

the correct answer is that stealing my ice cream will probably lead to violence.
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