improve your logical thinking on CR.
Following a set of rules (suggested by
powerscore cr bible) will help only on the easier ones...on the difficult ones only your logical thinking will help you to solve..
Most improve thing on CR "Pre-thinking" or "para-phrasing your own version of answer option (point #6 in CR bible tips)"
check my answer for the below question:
Economist: On average, the emergency treatment for an elderly person for injuries resulting from a fall costs $11,000. A new therapeutic program can significantly reduce an elderly person's chances of falling. Though obviously desirable for many reasons, this treatment program will cost $12,500 and thus cannot be justified.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the conclusion of the argument?
A. Among elderly people who had followed the program for only a few months, the number of serious falls reported was higher than it was for people who had followed the program for its recommended minimum length of one year.
B. Falls resulting in serious injuries are less common among elderly people living in nursing homes than they are among elderly people who live alone at home.
C. A frequent result of injuries sustained in falls is long-term pain, medication for which is not counted among the average per-person costs of emergency treatment for elderly people's injuries from such falls.
D. The new therapeutic program focuses on therapies other than medication, since overmedication can cause disorientation and hence increase the likelihood that an elderly person will have a serious fall.
E. A significant portion of the cost of the new therapeutic program is represented by regular visits by health care professionals, the costs of which tend to increase more rapidly than do those of other elements of the program.
Economist: On average, the emergency treatment for an elderly person for injuries resulting from a fall costs $11,000. A new therapeutic program can significantly reduce an elderly person's chances of falling. Though obviously desirable for many reasons, this treatment program will cost $12,500 and thus cannot be justified.
Argument Analysis
Emergency treatment (option 1) - Costs $11,000
New program(option 2) - will cost $12,500
Conclusion: Option 2 is costlier than option 1 and thus cannot be justified.
Prethinking:
The author draws the conclusion from the inequality option2 > option1.
To weaken this we have to show that option2 is cheaper than option1.
Different ways to weaken the conclusion:
1. Person undergoing option 1 treatment requires lot of medications, nurse care.these costs are not included in calculation of emergency treatment(option 1).
2. Person undergoing option 1 treatment cannot resume work for X months where person undergoing option 2 treatment can resume work immediately. hence the cost of treat can be justified.[in this case elderly persons cannot be expected to resume work ]
3. If its for a certain disease, we can weaken by saying that option 2 is a permanent cure and option 1 is temporary cure. the higher cost for option 2 can be justified in this case.
In going thro' the AOs, only C weakens the conclusion: option2 > option1
Also pay close attention to words such as average and other quantifier words