OG 12 | CR

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It is true of both men and women that those who marry as young adults live longer than those who never marry.
This does not show that marriage causes people to live longer, since, as compared with other people of the
same age, young adults who are about to get married have fewer of the unhealthy habits that can cause a
person to have a shorter life, most notably smoking and immoderate drinking of alcohol.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above?

(A) Marriage tends to cause people to engage less regularly in sports that involve risk of bodily harm.
(B) A married person who has an unhealthy habit is more likely to give up that habit than a person with the
same habit who is unmarried.
(C) A person who smokes is much more likely than a nonsmoker to marry a person who smokes at the time of
marriage, and the same is true for people who drink alcohol immoderately.
(D) Among people who marry as young adults, most of those who give up an unhealthy habit after marriage
do not resume the habit later in life.
(E) Among people who as young adults neither drink alcohol immoderately nor smoke, those who never marry
live as long as those who marry.

Please do not share OG Explanations

[Kasia@EconomistGMAT]

Premise 1: Those who marry young, live longer than those who never marry.
Conclusion: It is not marriage that makes people live longer.
Premise 2: Young adults who are about to get married have fewer of unhealthy habits.
We need to find an extra premise that will strengthen the conclusion that some other factor has a vital influence on one's life span.

A - incorrect, it states that marriage makes one take fewer risks
B - incorrect, again this answer states that marriage makes one give up bad habits so marriage is the reason for longer life
C - this answer is irrelevant, it does not give us any evidence concerning the influence that marriage has (or does not have) on one's life span
D - incorrect, this answer also speaks in favor of marriage as a factor that increases longevity; it states that married people are less likely to resume addictions provided they have given them up after getting married
E - correct, people with good habits and without addictions have a similar lifespan regardless of the fact whether they are married or not