OG 12 CR #119 - Confusing.Please help.

[rjanardhanan]

It is true of both men and women that those who marry as young adults live longer than those who never marry. This dose 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.

I opted for option D.But the correct answer is E.The explanation provided in OG is confusing.Please help.

[MBACenter]

It is true of both men and women that those who marry as young adults live longer than those who never marry. This dose 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.

I opted for option D.But the correct answer is E.The explanation provided in OG is confusing.Please help.

Hello, rjanardhanan!

Critical Reasoning Strengthen, Weaken and Evaluate questions always turn on "scientific comparisons," as we say at MBA Center, and control versus experimental situations. Here, the factor that we are trying to control for is the presence of "unhealthy habits that can cause a person to have a shorter life, most notably smoking and immoderate drinking of alcohol." The argument wants us to believe that it is these habits and not the age at which one gets married taht determines one's life span.

The problem is that there is a correlation between these habits and not marrying young, so it is hard to tell which causes the shorter life span!

Marry young / fewer unhealthy habits --> live longer
Marry less young / more unhealthy habits --> live less long

What we want is to compare two groups of people who are the same in every respect except that some of them have MORE unhealthy habits and some of them have FEWER unhealthy habits. Then we compare the resulting effect on lifespan. This double-blind test is said to "control" for other factors (such as marital age) when apart from the controlling factor the two groups are demographically similar.

D doesn't differentiate people who give up unhealthy habits and those who don't, nor does it make it clear that we are controlling for other factors that might play into life span. E, however, does differentiate, making it clear that young marriage does not count for any difference whenthe levels of unhealthy behavoir are the same:

Marry young / fewer unhealthy habits --> live longer
Marry less young / fewer unhealthy habits --> live longer

See? In this scenario, the only way in which the two groups are different is tha one marries younger and one marries less young. The lifespan results are the same. Thus, young married people who do live longer likely live longer due to their healthier lifestyles.

[Jim@StratusPrep]

Looking at the 2 answers in question:

The key is to focus on the information in question --> whether or not marriage impacts lifespan.

D) This takes an additional step of logic. As stated in the prompt we are talking about existing habits, not how they will change in the future.
E) States that the lifestyle choices are the true indicator of lifespan. Marital status aside it is the drinking/smoking that really determines lifespan.[/quote]

[Lifetron]

It is quite simple...

What causes Long life ?
1. Marriage
2. No Unhealthy Habits

Argument is in favour of 'No Unhealthy Habits'

C is OUT, doesn't address the issue !
A B D shows as if 'Marriage' influences the result.
E shows that 'Marriage' is not the deciding factor. It is solely 'No Unhealthy Habits' that causes long life.

Hence, E !

[tanviet]

It is true of both men and women that those who marry as young adults live longer than those who never marry. This dose 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.

I opted for option D.But the correct answer is E.The explanation provided in OG is confusing.Please help.

Hello, rjanardhanan!

Critical Reasoning Strengthen, Weaken and Evaluate questions always turn on "scientific comparisons," as we say at MBA Center, and control versus experimental situations. Here, the factor that we are trying to control for is the presence of "unhealthy habits that can cause a person to have a shorter life, most notably smoking and immoderate drinking of alcohol." The argument wants us to believe that it is these habits and not the age at which one gets married taht determines one's life span.

The problem is that there is a correlation between these habits and not marrying young, so it is hard to tell which causes the shorter life span!

Marry young / fewer unhealthy habits --> live longer
Marry less young / more unhealthy habits --> live less long

What we want is to compare two groups of people who are the same in every respect except that some of them have MORE unhealthy habits and some of them have FEWER unhealthy habits. Then we compare the resulting effect on lifespan. This double-blind test is said to "control" for other factors (such as marital age) when apart from the controlling factor the two groups are demographically similar.

D doesn't differentiate people who give up unhealthy habits and those who don't, nor does it make it clear that we are controlling for other factors that might play into life span. E, however, does differentiate, making it clear that young marriage does not count for any difference whenthe levels of unhealthy behavoir are the same:

Marry young / fewer unhealthy habits --> live longer
Marry less young / fewer unhealthy habits --> live longer

See? In this scenario, the only way in which the two groups are different is tha one marries younger and one marries less young. The lifespan results are the same. Thus, young married people who do live longer likely live longer due to their healthier lifestyles.

thank you MBA center expert

Can I take the free class of "scientific comparisions" before I buy your gmat course?

or

if you have the article of "scidentific comparisions" , Can I read it before I buy your gmat course?

Thank you