Q7 - Medical Doctor: Sleep Deprivation is

[primiya101]

Hi can someone please explain why the answer is E and not B?

[jewels0602]

Good news, the answer is B!

[ohthatpatrick]

Sure thing. I'm surprised we don't have a complete explanation up here yet.

Question Type: Strengthen

Task: read the argument and find its core. Evaluate the core for missing logical links and potential objections.

Argument Core:

P: Sleep deprivation is awful and results in bad stuff
C: We should restructure workday for more flexibility

Okay, so do you see any missing logical links or potential objections?




Hopefully you noticed that "restructuring the workday for more flexibility" came out of nowhere in the Conclusion. Why does the author bring that up? What connection does he think it has to sleep deprivation (the topic we were discussing up until the conclusion)?

The author must be assuming that more flexibility in scheduling would help people get more sleep!

Since this argument has such an apparent missing link, I would go looking for that in the answers. (If there HADN'T been such a glaring missing link, I would have spent longer with the stimulus, trying to come up with ways to argue against the author's conclusion).

(A) Nothing about restructuring the workday or flexibility in scheduling.

(B) Bingo! This makes the connection we need between 'Flexibility in scheduling' and 'helping the whole sleep deprivation problem'.

(C) Nothing about restructuring the workday or flexibility in scheduling.

(D) The avg number of hours worked per week is not the same thing as "flexibility as to when you SCHEDULE those hours". The author wasn't discussing cutting the number of hours worked, just giving employees more flexibility about WHEN those hours are worked.

(E) Similarly to (D), the author wasn't talking about cutting the length of one's workday, just giving people more flexibility in scheduling their work hours.