Recent research has indicated that married people are not only happier than unmarried people, but also healthier. This study has been widely reported by the media, with most commentators concluding that being married is good for one’s health and attitude.

The conclusion of the media commentators depends on which of the following assumptions?

(A) The longer people are married, the happier and healthier they become.
(B) Married couples who had a large, extravagant wedding are happier than those who had a small, simple ceremony.
(C) Married people cannot get depressed.
(D) Single people with depression or health problems are just as likely to get married as are other single people.
(E) Some marriages are more harmonious than others.
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(A) The longer people are married, the happier and healthier they become.

Out of scope

(B) Married couples who had a large, extravagant wedding are happier than those who had a small, simple ceremony.

Out of scope

(C) Married people cannot get depressed.

No information on if this could be true or not. Out

(D) Single people with depression or health problems are just as likely to get married as are other single people.

Correct.


(E) Some marriages are more harmonious than others.

This comparison is out of scope of the argument
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I think C is too strong and sweeping, whereas D is a little more specific.

the argument is as follows.
Evidence: Married people are happier and healthier
Conclusion: So marriage is good for health and attitude.

One way to identify the answer is to negate the options and see if the conclusion still holds true.

A. The longer people are married, the happier and healthier they become.
Suppose people don't become healthier and happier, the longer they are married. Suppose they stay just happy and not happier with time. Still the conclusion that marriage may lead to people being happy, holds true.

(B) Married couples who had a large, extravagant wedding are happier than those who had a small, simple ceremony.
Suppose even people who got married in a simple ceremony is as happier as people who got married extravagantly. Still marriage leads to happiness and conclusion holds.

(C) Married people cannot get depressed.
Suppose married people get depressed sometimes. But still they may be happier at other times as compared to singles and so conclusion is unchanged.

(D) Single people with depression or health problems are just as likely to get married as are other single people.
Suppose single people with depression or health problems don't get married usually. Then it means mostly, the lively and healthiest of people get married and therefore it may result in more married people being healthy and happy. This disproves conclusion by contradicting the basic assumption and instead indicating that the marriage as an institution may not be entirely responsible for a happier and healthy life.

(E) Some marriages are more harmonious than others.
Suppose all marriages are equally harmonious. So what? It talks only about the relative level of harmonious relations in marriages. IT does not talk about differences between married and unmarried people. It is out of scope and does not change the conclusion.

So the BEST FIT is D

(D) Single people with depression or health problems are just as likely to get married as are other single people.

Answer choice D is correct because address this flaw in a very sneaky way. Choice D address this correlation and causation issue by eliminating the possibility that depression and health issue is actually causing people to NOT get married by saying that
" Single people with depression or health problems are just as likely to get married as are other single people."

If we negate answer choice D, then we'll see that the conclusion above does not hold. If we negate choice D, we'll get "Single people with depression or health problems are NOT AS LIKELY to get married as are other single people." This show that there are actually a reverse correlation between marriage and depression.

Regards
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it is.

An assumption question.
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