GMAT Question of the Day - Critical Reasoning

Advertisement:
For sinus pain, three out of four hospitals give their patients Novex. So when you want the most effective
painkiller for sinus pain, Novex is the one to choose.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the advertisement’s argument?

(A) Some competing brands of painkillers are intended to reduce other kinds of pain in addition to sinus pain.
(B) Many hospitals that do not usually use Novex will do so for those patients who cannot tolerate the drug the hospitals usually use.
(C) Many drug manufacturers increase sales of their products to hospitals by selling these products
to the hospitals at the lowest price the manufacturers can afford.
(D) Unlike some competing brands of painkillers, Novex is available from pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription.
(E) In clinical trials Novex has been found more effective than competing brands of painkillers that have been on the market longer than Novex.

Written by yaggarwal on October 13th, 2008 with 19 comments.
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19 comments

Read the comments left by other users below, or:

vikas gupta
#1. October 14th, 2007, at 5:55 PM.

answer option: B

Kayshav
#2. October 15th, 2007, at 1:36 AM.

The ans is C
Why is the TGteam picking up ques. from OG ?

yaggarwal
#3. October 15th, 2007, at 5:10 PM.

Kayshav,
This question is asked by me not TG and I havent taken it from OG. I have some other docs and my answer is also C while it is D so I want to confirm whether my reasoning is correct.

Kayshav
#4. October 16th, 2007, at 12:35 AM.

The ques is a statistical assumption. Because 3 out of four hosp give Novex, so we conclude that Novex is most effective.
What weakens the argument is when we know that it is prescribes due to reasons other than it being effective.
E strengthens the argument.
A and D are out of the scope(passage doesnt talk of other pains or pharmacies
B states that more people can tolerate Novex given that 3 out of four hosp use Novex(premise). Hence in other way it is more effective.
C gives the reason y hospitals, mostly due to economic factors tend to prescribe a particular drug.

mani kant
#5. October 17th, 2007, at 3:45 PM.

I too will go for ‘C’ option.

Ken
#6. October 13th, 2008, at 8:51 AM.

I go with option B. The effectiveness that is mentioned is based on 3 out of 4 hospitals that give their sinus patients Novex. However statement B claims that many other hospitals are not using Novex unless required. Hence, this statement brings the effectiveness of the drug into question.

Som
#7. October 13th, 2008, at 9:53 AM.

The answer should be C.

kapil
#8. October 13th, 2008, at 10:03 AM.

Ramz
#9. October 13th, 2008, at 11:56 AM.

Kramer
#10. October 13th, 2008, at 1:29 PM.

Ken, B is wrong as it strenghtens the argument.

B translates to - Hospitals provide Novex to patients who can’t tolerate other drugs.This choice doesn’t undermine the argument.

Hence the correct option is C.

sanjay
#11. October 13th, 2008, at 3:43 PM.

My choice is b.
Kramer reasons that b is not correct because it does not undermine the arguement. However it does as Navex is not the first choice.
Only when ther is no choice( or almost) then Navex is the one.
The arguement concludes that Navex is the one to choose and the b translates into the fact that Navex is not the one to choose.
This undermines the arguement.

Regarding c it states that the price is the least hence it is administred however it does not necessarily undermine the arguement as Navex could be the one out of choice due to the price and not necessarily due to some other factor which is not mentioned otherwise explicitly.

Hence my choice is b

Ken
#12. October 13th, 2008, at 3:53 PM.

Kramer, thanks for your response. Like you mentioned, if Novex were to be given to patients who cant tolerate other drugs, wouldnt the 3 out of 4 hospitals be a flaw in representative sample and hence weakening the argument?

Manisha
#13. October 13th, 2008, at 5:05 PM.

latha
#14. October 14th, 2008, at 9:54 AM.

My ans is B.
Whats the official answer?

dd
#15. October 14th, 2008, at 10:59 AM.

Kanishk
#16. October 14th, 2008, at 11:47 AM.

RGN
#17. October 14th, 2008, at 4:09 PM.

‘D’ IS MY ANS FOR SINUS PAIN IN CR QUESTION

Taru
#18. October 15th, 2008, at 5:35 AM.

Rajib Banerjee
#19. October 21st, 2008, at 1:46 AM.

C, Since it clearly tells that Novex is sold more because of cheap price and not due to its effectiveness and hence undermines the argument.

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