Moderate Exercise Lowers the Risk of Blockage of the Arteries due to Blood Clots.

Question: Moderate exercise lowers the risk of blockage of the arteries due to blood clots, since anything that lowers blood cholesterol levels also lowers the risk of hardening of the arteries, which in turn lowers the risk of arterial blockage due to blood clots; and, if the data reported in a recent study are correct, moderate exercise lowers blood cholesterol levels. 

The conclusion drawn above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

1. The recent study investigated the relationship between exercise and blood cholesterol levels.
2. Blockage of the arteries due to blood clots can be prevented.
3. Lowering blood cholesterol levels lowers the risk of blockage of the arteries.
4. The data reported in the recent study are correct.
5. Hardening of the arteries increases the risk of blockage of the arteries due to blood clots.

Moderate Exercise Lowers the Risk of Blockage of the Arteries due to Blood Clots – is a GMAT Critical reasoning question. This particular GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from the book ‘ Manhattan Prep's "All the GMAT Bundle, 7th Edition’. This particular topic is the Assumption and conclusion type of question. For this type, the candidates need to provide an assumption supporting the conclusion in the passage. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. Critical reasoning in GMAT requires candidates to find the strengths and weaknesses of the argument, or find the logical flaw in the argument.  The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

Answer: C
Explanation: An assumption is an implied hypothesis. So we are looking for something that is implied in the argument. In case it is wrong or maybe disable the argument.

Let’s go through all the available options for this GMAT critical reasoning question and choose the one that fits the conclusion.

Option A: The recent study investigated the relationship between exercise and blood cholesterol levels.
Option A states that a recent study has investigated the relationship between exercise and blood cholesterol levels. The conclusion to the above passage is that moderate exercise lowers blood cholesterol levels. The statement says that the study talks about the relationship between exercise and cholesterol levels. The statement does not says anything about the relation between moderate exercise and blood cholesterol levels, which is mentioned in the conclusion above. The exercise in the study can be of a high level or it can be moderate. Since the level of exercise is not clear in the statement, Option A is incorrect.

Option B: Blockage of the arteries due to blood clots can be prevented.
Option B states that the blockage of arteries due to blood clots can be avoided. However, it is not mentioned if the blockage can be prevented through moderate exercise or not. The conclusion specifically mentions moderate exercise as a way to lower blood cholesterol levels. Since the statement doesn’t specify the way by which blockage of arteries can be avoided, Option B is incorrect.

Option C: Lowering blood cholesterol levels lowers the risk of blockage of the arteries.
According to Option C, a lower blood cholesterol level can lower the risk of the blockage of arteries. The conclusion says that moderate exercise lowers blood cholesterol levels. If we assume that lowering the blood cholesterol levels lowers the risk of blockage of arteries, the above conclusion holds true. Because we know that moderate exercise lowers the risk of blockage of arteries. So, this assumption can work. Option C is correct.

Option D: The data reported in the recent study are correct.
Option D states that the data that is reported in the recent study is correct. If we take this statement as an assumption, the conclusion will not hold true because an assumption is the unstated part of the argument and it need not be mentioned separately. But since it is already mentioned in the passage, Option D is incorrect.

Option E: Hardening of the arteries increases the risk of blockage of the arteries due to blood clots.
As per Option E, the hardening of arteries enhances the risk of blockage of arteries because of blood clots. Every fact in this statement is about raising the risk of blockage and not lowering it. The conclusion talks about lowering blood cholesterol levels due to moderate exercise. Since the statement is not relevant to the conclusion. Option E is incorrect.

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