Strengthen
Reduce plausible alternatives or reinforce the bridge.
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GMAT Verbal
Strengthen and Weaken
Judge answer choices by whether they make an argument conclusion more or less likely through the underlying assumption.
Core idea
Strengthen and weaken questions operate on the same bridge.
A strengthen answer supports the missing link; a weaken answer damages it or provides a competing explanation.
Strengthen
Strengthen asks: what would make the conclusion more likely?
Useful answers can add a missing link, support an assumption, or rule out an alternative explanation.
Weaken
Weaken asks: what would make the conclusion less likely?
Useful answers can attack the assumption, offer another cause, or show that the evidence is unreliable or incomplete.
The same new fact can matter differently depending on the task.
Weaken
Create a plausible alternative or break the bridge.
Trap
Relevant facts that do not affect the conclusion are wrong answers.
An answer can be true and on-topic yet fail because it leaves the evidence-to-conclusion link unchanged.
Precision
Extreme wording is not automatically wrong.
The real test is logical effect. Reject an answer because it does not do the required job, not merely because it sounds strong.
Mini application
Try this: A cafe extended hours and revenue rose. The owner claims the longer hours caused the rise.
What kind of fact would weaken the claim?
Solution
A strong weaken fact would identify another change that plausibly caused the revenue increase.
For example, a major nearby competitor closing during the same period would create an alternative explanation.
Remember this
Ask what the answer does to the gap.
Strengthen makes the bridge more credible; weaken makes it less credible.