CR Qn Bank - juvenile diabetes

[lionKing1976]

Unlike juvenile diabetes, which is a genetic condition present from birth, type-2 diabetes is acquired in adulthood, generally as a result of obesity and inactivity. The number of cases of type-2 diabetes has been steadily increasing in the United States since 1970, indicating to many researchers that the American population is becoming increasingly heavy and sedentary. If the government wishes to stem the spread of the disease, it should educate the public about the dangers of an inactive, calorie-laden lifestyle and promote healthful diets and exercise.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to believe that the proposed education program will NOT be effective?

School health programs already educate middle-school students about the issue.

The public already has access to this information through the Internet.

Food companies encourage the public to indulge in unhealthful snacks.

The government has not set aside money for such a program.

Healthful foods and exercise programs are beyond the financial means of many people.


OA : E, OE:
(B) The fact that the public already has access to this information through the Internet, does not say anything predictive about the effectiveness of the plan. Even with access to the information, there is a good chance that most people are not exposed to the information.
(E) CORRECT. Choice E states that healthful foods and exercise programs are beyond the financial means of many people. This suggests that even with the best planning, the program might not achieve its goals simply because people cannot afford to follow the program's advice.



I am not too convinced why B is wrong. Government's plan is dependent on one primary assumption that public isn't aware and so it plans to make them aware through it's plan. B clearly says that people are already aware, suggesting that there are some other reasons for their inactive lifestyle and so undermines the government's plan. B seems like an "alternate path" as explained in strategy guides.

Please explain.

thx,
MGMAT student.

[shiv]

lion

Having an information about something does not necessary mean acting on that information. here the requirement for the success of the government plan is more than disbursing the information , or to educate the people . Implementation rather requires the willingness, resources and capability of the people to adapt such programs.

Hope this helps.

[StaceyKoprince]

The fact that people could access this info on the Internet does not mean that most (or even some) people actually have done so. We have access to a lot of information on the Internet. Does that mean that we are already aware of all of that information, in full detail? For instance, I just went over to wikipedia and hit the "random article" button and learned about Petru Balan, a Romanian rugby player. I've never heard of him before this, but I've had access to the information via the Internet for who knows how long. :)

So B doesn't actually say that people ARE aware. It just says that, if people decide they want the information, they can go get it for themselves (assuming they have access to a computer and the Internet).

In addition, for a weaken question, the correct answer should directly tear down / make worse the given conclusion. The given conclusion is that the government's plan won't be effective. If the plan is that "educating public + promoting healthful diets and exercise --> reduced incidence of diabetes" then the right answer should show that either A (educating public) or B (promoting healthful diets and exercise) or both aren't likely to have the desired effect. If it's true that many people can't afford healthful diets and exercise, then this plan is a lot less likely to be effective. If it's true that this info is already available on the Internet... well, I really don't know whether the plan is less likely to be effective. I would also have to assume that most people are actively aware of the info available on the Internet... and I'm not supposed to be making additional assumptions here.

[sudaif]

Stacey,

The conclusion has to do with government's role in educating people about an inactive lifestyle. Choice E suggests that the people dont have the financial means....but financial means are not discussed/implied anywhere. The conclusion of the argument is about "educating the people"...not what they can/can't afford.
I just can't get my head around this one. Therefore, I chose answer choice B, because it was the least worst answer.

Thx

[StaceyKoprince]

On strengthen or weaken questions, the answer SHOULD include some new piece of information that you could not have known before. That information will still be tightly tied to the argument and will affect the conclusion in the desired way (strengthen or weaken), but it will actually be something you could not have known just by reading the argument.

So let's imagine I'm running for office, and I'm in the midst of a debate, promoting my plan: educate people about needing to eat healthy food and exercise. If you do, then you will "stem the spread of the disease."

And my opponent says, that's nice of you to make sure people know they need to eat healthy food and exercise. But most people don't have enough money to buy healthy food or join an exercise program. If people don't have the money to do anything with your recommendations, then how is your plan going to work?

And there I am, up on the podium, trying to figure out what to say, because my opponent is right. My plan isn't good enough. I could say: oh, well, we'll teach people how to exercise on their own, or we'll subsidize a food bank of fresh fruits and veggies, or... but here I am ADDING to my plan so that it's still good. Because it's not that great all by itself anymore.

Contrast that with this scenario:
I say: educate people about needing to eat healthy food and exercise. If you do, then you will "stem the spread of the disease."

My opponent says: that info's already available on the Internet.

I say: yeah, but most people haven't actually *read* that info. That's my point: we need to make sure that people actually KNOW this info, not that it's just out there somewhere, at the library and on the Internet.

[sudaif]

I get it. Thank you Stacey!
The mistake I was making was that I was focusing on the conclusion given in the passage and not in the question. If I focus on the conclusion in the question, "plan will not be effective" and try to strengthen it, then answer choice E is the best choice because it shows that even if the government does educate the people about eating healthy etc., the people won't be able to implement what they've learned - thus leading to a an unsuccessful plan because it failed to achieve its desired result.

[tim]

Glad to hear Stacey's response helped!

[sourabh.ag]

Hi

I have a small doubt here regarding the choice E.

Although choice E seems to be the best option among all others, the use of modifier 'MANY' creates a small confusion. In all major CR recommendations, we have been asked not to assume many as most, because many could refer to anything more than 0.

So, if we assume many to be some(5%) in option e, the government will be successful in implementing the program.

Best Regards
Sourabh

[jnelson0612]

Hi

I have a small doubt here regarding the choice E.

Although choice E seems to be the best option among all others, the use of modifier 'MANY' creates a small confusion. In all major CR recommendations, we have been asked not to assume many as most, because many could refer to anything more than 0.

So, if we assume many to be some(5%) in option e, the government will be successful in implementing the program.

Best Regards
Sourabh

I think you said it yourself--choice E is the best option of the group. Sometimes we just have to use process of elimination to narrow our answers, then choose the best one. Did you see a better answer?

Also, although "many" does not necessarily mean "most", I think that you can assume that it means a substantial number. If the word used were "some" I would agree with your concern; however, the GMAT uses "many" to stand in for "most" or "a substantial minority".

[pravsriv]

Hi Stacey,

Can you please explain why A (School health programs already educate middle-school students about the issue.) is wrong.

My thought: People already know about the issue and still not implementing, so educating again will not help.

[jnelson0612]

Hi Stacey,

Can you please explain why A (School health programs already educate middle-school students about the issue.) is wrong.

My thought: People already know about the issue and still not implementing, so educating again will not help.

I look at A as not necessarily wrong per se, but also not as weakening as the correct answer choice.

Just knowing that school health programs already educate middle-school students doesn't weaken as much for a few reasons. The most important to me is that maybe this education has only been going on for a short time. Thus, high school students and adults have not had the education and could probably use it. If we heard that this education had been going on for several decades that would have made this a stronger weaken answer. At the same time, it would still not be quite as weakening (in my opinion) as the correct answer, which shows that education makes no difference since people can't implement the knowledge.

[parleybaldwin]

Why not C? If the plan is to educate people, but the media is already advertising to them about unhealthful snacks, then the plan won't be successful because media influence. Any advice would be nice...?

[jnelson0612]

Why not C? If the plan is to educate people, but the media is already advertising to them about unhealthful snacks, then the plan won't be successful because media influence. Any advice would be nice...?

C does weaken a little, but in strengthen/weaken questions it's often a measure of degree. Which one weakens the most? Sure, C means that people may be tempted by the advertising, but it doesn't meant that the necessarily will eat the junk food. However, E tells us that people flat-out can't do what they need to do to improve their health. Thus E weakens the plan more than C does.

[divineacclivity]

C does weaken a little, but in strengthen/weaken questions it's often a measure of degree. Which one weakens the most? Sure, C means that people may be tempted by the advertising, but it doesn't meant that the necessarily will eat the junk food. However, E tells us that people flat-out can't do what they need to do to improve their health. Thus E weakens the plan more than C does.

I totally agree with what you say about C but the introduction of "many" in, otherwise a perfect answer, E makes it seem as weak a choice as C :( because if "many" can't afford a beneficial prog then there'd still be others who would be benefited and reduce the spread. Also, with C, there'll be many who would be impacted by the beneficial program and others would fall prey to the snack ads etc. So, C sounds as bad/weak as E does. So, it is just a matter of luck on the exam day with such a question :(
Am i missing something here?

thanks in advance

[tim]

C is irrelevant if the government messages can convince people to ignore the food industry. E does the most to convince us that the program will be ineffective; keep in mind you're not looking for something that provides a 100% guarantee that the program will be ineffective, just an answer choice that does better than the others. and no, it is NEVER a matter of luck on test day if you know your stuff.. :)