Although aspirin has been proven to eliminate moderate fever associated with some illnesses, many doctors no longer routinely recommend its...
GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions
Although aspirin has been proven to eliminate moderate fever associated with some illnesses, many doctors no longer routinely recommend its use for this purpose. A moderate fever stimulates the activity of the body's disease-fighting white blood cells and also inhibits the growth of many strains of disease-causing bacteria.
If the statements above are true, which of the following conclusions is most strongly supported by them?
Passage Visualization
| Passage Statement | Visualization and Linkage |
|---|---|
| Although aspirin has been proven to eliminate moderate fever associated with some illnesses | Medical Fact Established: Aspirin's proven effectiveness
|
| many doctors no longer routinely recommend its use for this purpose | Behavioral Pattern Observed: Medical practice shift
|
| A moderate fever stimulates the activity of the body's disease-fighting white blood cells | Biological Mechanism 1: Fever's immune benefit
|
| and also inhibits the growth of many strains of disease-causing bacteria | Biological Mechanism 2: Fever's antibacterial effect
|
| Overall Implication | Paradox Resolution: Doctors avoid recommending aspirin for fever because eliminating the fever removes beneficial immune responses. The fever that aspirin eliminates is actually helping the body fight illness through two mechanisms: enhanced immune activity and bacterial growth inhibition. |
Valid Inferences
Inference: Doctors avoid recommending aspirin for moderate fever because eliminating the fever would interfere with the body's natural disease-fighting mechanisms.
Supporting Logic: Since moderate fever both stimulates white blood cell activity and inhibits bacterial growth, and since aspirin eliminates this beneficial fever, doctors recognize that using aspirin would remove two important natural defenses against illness. Therefore, despite aspirin's proven effectiveness at fever reduction, many doctors no longer recommend it because the fever itself serves a therapeutic purpose.
Clarification Note: The passage supports that doctors' reluctance stems from fever's beneficial effects, but does not address whether there might be situations where fever reduction is still appropriate or necessary.
Aspirin, an effective painkiller, alleviates the pain and discomfort of many illnesses.
This choice discusses aspirin as a painkiller and its ability to alleviate pain and discomfort. However, the passage focuses entirely on aspirin's effect on fever and the immune benefits of moderate fever. Pain relief isn't mentioned anywhere in the argument, making this choice irrelevant to the information provided.
Aspirin can prolong a patient's illness by eliminating moderate fever helpful in fighting some diseases.
This choice perfectly captures the logical inference from the passage. We know aspirin eliminates moderate fever, and we know moderate fever helps fight disease through two mechanisms: stimulating white blood cells and inhibiting bacterial growth. Therefore, by eliminating this helpful fever, aspirin could reasonably prolong illness by removing these natural defenses. This explains why doctors avoid recommending it despite its effectiveness.
Aspirin inhibit the growth of white blood cells, which are necessary for fighting some illnesses.
This choice incorrectly states that aspirin inhibits white blood cell growth. The passage tells us that moderate fever stimulates white blood cell activity, and aspirin eliminates fever - but nowhere does it state that aspirin directly affects white blood cells. The passage suggests aspirin's impact is indirect (through fever elimination), not direct inhibition of white blood cells.
The more white blood cells a patient's body produces, the less severe the patient's illness will be.
This choice makes a broad claim about the relationship between white blood cell production and illness severity. While the passage mentions that fever stimulates white blood cell activity, it doesn't provide enough information to conclude that more white blood cells always mean less severe illness. This goes beyond what we can reasonably infer from the given information.
The focus of modern medicine is on inhibiting the growth of disease-causing bacteria within the body.
This choice discusses the focus of modern medicine on inhibiting bacterial growth. The passage mentions that fever inhibits bacterial growth, but it doesn't make any claims about what modern medicine focuses on overall. This is an unsupported generalization about medical priorities that isn't addressed in the argument.