Herbalist: Many Herbal Medicines Work Best When They Have A Chance To Influence The Body GMAT Critical Reasoning

Question:Herbalist: Many herbal medicines work best when they have a chance to influence the body gently over several months. However, many of these herbal medicines have toxic side effects when taken daily for such long periods. Therefore, at least some people who use herbal medicines daily should occasionally skip their usual dose for a day or two, to give the body a chance to recuperate.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the herbalist's argument?

  1. One should occasionally skip one's usual dose of an herbal medicine for a day or two only if doing so will reduce or eliminate toxic side effects from several months of use.
  2. At least some people who use herbal medicines daily use them for periods long enough for the medicines to have side effects.
  3. Some herbal medicines have toxic side effects when taken for several months, even if the usual dose is occasionally skipped for a day or two to give the body a chance to recuperate.
  4. At least some herbal medicines work less well in achieving their desired effects if one occasionally skips one's usual dose than if one does not.
  5. Anyone who uses herbal medicines should give those medicines a chance to influence the body gently over several months at least.

Answer: B
Explanation:

Given that, Herbalists say that many plant medicines work best when they have several months to work slowly on the body. But many of these herbal drugs can be dangerous if you take them every day for so long. So, people who take herbal medicines every day should sometimes skip their normal dose for a day or two to give their bodies a chance to heal.

Let's approach the answer choices.

A: Incorrect
This option places a specific condition on when one should skip doses. The argument doesn't make such a specific claim about the reduction or elimination of toxic side effects as the sole reason for skipping doses.

B: Correct
The argument suggests that people who use herbal medicines daily should occasionally skip their doses to prevent toxic side effects. This assumption is necessary for the argument to hold, as it establishes that there are individuals who use herbal medicines daily for extended periods, allowing for the possibility of side effects to occur. Without this assumption, the argument's conclusion about the need to occasionally skip doses to avoid side effects would not be valid.

C: Incorrect
This option assumes that skipping doses, even occasionally, does not prevent or reduce toxic side effects. However, the argument is focused on the idea that occasional skipping of doses can help prevent side effects.

D: Incorrect
This option introduces the idea that skipping doses could impact the effectiveness of herbal medicines. The argument doesn't discuss the impact on effectiveness but rather focuses on avoiding toxic side effects.

E: Incorrect
This option is a general statement about using herbal medicines over several months, but it doesn't specifically address the idea of occasionally skipping doses to prevent toxic side effects.

“Herbalist: Many herbal medicines work best when they have a chance to influence the body”– is a GMAT Critical question. 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. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. This topic requires candidates to find the argument's strengths and weaknesses or the logical flaw in the argument. The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions.

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