Smoking in Bed has Long Been the Main Cause of Home Fires GMAT Critical Reasoning

Question: Smoking in bed has long been the main cause of home fires. Despite a significant decline in cigarette smoking in the last two decades, however, there has been no comparable decline in the number of people killed in home fires.

Each one of the following statements, if true, over the last two decades, helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy above EXCEPT:

(A) Compared to other types of home fires, home fires caused by smoking in bed usually cause relatively little damage before they are extinguished.
(B) Home fires caused by smoking in bed often break out after the home’s occupants have fallen asleep.
(C) Smokers who smoke in bed tend to be heavy smokers who are less likely to quit smoking than are smokers who do not smoke in bed.
(D) An increasing number of people have been killed in home fires that started in the kitchen.
(E) Population densities have increased, with the result that one home fire can cause more deaths than in previous decades.

Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Home fires caused by smoking in bed often break out after the home’s occupants have fallen asleep.- Correct.
Tells nothing about the home fires or decline in smoking. If smoking-caused home fires break out while people are sleeping, we would expect there to be serious consequences when such fires break out. With fewer smokers now, you'd thus expect fewer serious fires now, and thus fewer deaths in home fires. So B doesn't help to resolve the discrepancy at all.

Let's examine the other available options.

Option A
Compared to other types of home fires, home fires caused by smoking in bed usually cause relatively little damage before they are extinguished.- Incorrect. The reason for fire could be kitchen fires etc and not due to smoking in bed. If this is true, then bed-smoking fires aren’t likely to cause many fire-related deaths in the first place. Under these circumstances, a decline in smoking wouldn’t be expected to result in a corresponding decline in home-fire deaths.

Option C
Smokers who smoke in bed tend to be heavy smokers who are less likely to quit smoking than are smokers who do not smoke in bed.- Incorrect. Heavy smokers would not quit smoking in bed and that could be the reason for no change in home fires.

Option D
An increasing number of people have been killed in home fires that started in the kitchen- Incorrect. Gives another reason behind the increased number of deaths. Home fires could be due to kitchen fires.

Option E
Population densities have increased, with the result that one home fire can cause more deaths than in previous decades.- Incorrect. Home fires cause damage due to population densities. If kitchen fires or greater population densities are responsible for more home-fire deaths than before, the fact that no decline in fire deaths has accompanied the decline in cigarette smoking is far less surprising.

“Smoking in bed has long been the main cause of home fires. Despite a”- is a GMAT critical reasoning topic. This GMAT critical comes with five options and candidates need to choose the one which is correct. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. To answer the question, a candidate can either find a piece of evidence that would weaken the argument or have logical flaws in the argument. Candidates get 65 minutes to answer 36 MCQ questions in the critical reasoning section of the GMAT.

Suggested GMAT Critical Reasoning Samples

• Manufacturers of household appliances are still urging the public to purchase food processors GMAT Critical Reasoning
• From time to time, the press indulges in outbursts of indignation over GMAT critical reasoning
• The tax system of the Republic of Grootland encourages borrowing by granting its taxpayers GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Advances in photocopying technology allow criminals with no printing expertise GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Professor A: We must make a strong moral statement against Country X’s policies GMAT Critical Reasoning
• According to an Independent Computer-Industry Analyst, the New Regent Microcomputer GMAT Critical Reasoning
• In Today’s Pluralistic Society, Textbook Publishers Find Themselves in an Increasingly Uncomfortable Position GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Economies in which a high percentage of resources are invested in research and development GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Columnist: The country is presently debating legislation GMAT Critical Reasoning
• When People Evade Income Taxes by not Declaring Taxable Income GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Utrania was formerly a major petroleum exporter, but in recent decades economic stagnation GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Useful protein drugs, such as insulin, must still be administered by the cumbersome GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Unripe Lychee Fruit Contain a Compound called Hypoglycin GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Tiger Beetles are such Fast Runners that they can Capture Virtually any Nonflying Insect GMAT Critical Reasoning
• In the nation of Pelmenia, 20% of 18-year-olds are left-handed, while just 10% of 45-year-olds and 2% of 70-year-olds are left-handed. GMAT Critical Reasoning
• The Tobacco Industry is Still Profitable and Projections are that it will Remain so GMAT Critical Reasoning
• The price the government pays for standard weapons purchased from military contractors GMAT Critical Reasoning
• In a taste test, participants were asked to try two versions of a cola GMAT Critical Reasoning
• The percentage of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 GMAT Critical Reasoning
• The nature of English literature reflects the rich and diverse vocabulary of the English language, GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Rhizobium bacteria living in the roots of bean plants or other legumes GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Concerned About Financial Well-Being of its Elderly Citizens, the GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Since the Passage of the State’s Clean Air Act Ten Years Ago GMAT critical reasoning
• The Prairie Vole, A Small North American Grassland Rodent, Breeds Year GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Some Geologists Propose Haloclasty, A Process of Salt Crystallization GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Today's low gasoline prices make consumers willing to indulge GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Athletic director: “Members of our sports team included, for the fall season GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Research Indicates That College Professors Generally Were Raised GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Residents of an apartment complex are considering two possible plans GMAT Critical Reasoning
• The Tobacco Industry is Still Profitable and Projections are that it will Remain so GMAT Critical Reasoning.
• The price the government pays for standard weapons purchased from military contractors is determined by a pricing method called “historical costing” GMAT Critical Reasoning
• A study released by a major medical center has found that people who experience a stroke are frequently not treated quickly GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Local Phone Companies Have Monopolies On Phone Service Within Their Areas GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Record Companies Defend Their Substitution of Laser-Read Compact Discs GMAT Critical Reasoning
• A few people who are bad writers simply cannot improve their writing, whether or not they receive instruction GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Advertisement: Researchers Studied a Group of People Trying to Lose GMAT Critical Reasoning
• The earth's resources are being depleted much too fast. To correct this, the United States must keep its resource GMAT Critical Reasoning
• The Decline Of Manufacturing In A Region Sets Off A Chain Reaction GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Magazine article: Punishment for crimes is justified if it actually deters people from committing them GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Six months or so after getting a video recorder, many early buyers GMAT Critical Reasoning
• The Usual Meaning of Free is Devoid of Cost or Obligation. However GMAT Critical Reasoning
• In Europe, Schoolchildren Devote Time During Each School Day To Calisthenics GMAT Critical Reasoning
• The Americans with disabilities act (ADA) was designed to ensure that there is no discrimination against GMAT Critical Reasoning
• At An Enormous Research Cost A Leading Chemical Company Has Developed GMAT Critical Reasoning
• A Reliable Survey Indicates That College Graduates Change Employers Four Times GMAT Critical Reasoning
• In 1988, a significant percentage of seals in the Baltic Sea died GMAT Critical Reasoning
• Contrary to the charges made by some of its opponents GMAT Critical Reasoning
• In recent years, a village outside Osaka, Japan has taken to hosting GMAT Critical Reasoning
• In Switzerland, One Of Europe's Smallest Nations, Amendments To The GMAT Critical Reasoning
• In The Paintings By Seventeenth-Century Dutch Artist Vermeer GMAT Critical Reasoning