Marine and Juhu beach, 5 miles from each other, are the two top beache

this argument demonstrates causal relationship.
to weaken causal relationship we can use two methods.
1.alternate cause
2.reverse relationship.
these two things can go long way if u want to ace cr.as soon as you see causal relationship you should be salivating for the answer choice that demonstrates theses relationship.
having said all that ,you can clearly see answer d executing the first method.although i must agree that it is not explicitly mentioned but see what if out of three beaches that choosen for tourist attractions , the juhu beach is one of them ,so that completely dislodges the conclusion .remember gmat will not give u alternate cause on platter ,you have to infer it in most of the cases.

+1 for D.

Tourist attractions opened in last three months can be the plausible reason for increase in the No. of tourists visiting the juhu beach.

To weaken the Argument we should try to get any other cause for the same effect and D does exactly the same.

+1 D for as well.
In order to weaken we are seeking an alternative cause in this case.
Hence D.

Conclusion: increase in tourists in Juhu beach is directly related to epidemic.
To weaken it we need to attack the cause of the conclusion.
Pre thinking: 1) some event which attracted a big crowd was organised this year in August at Juhu beach.
2) There was no effect of the epidemic at Juhu beach
3) government reduced the entry fee for Juhu beach or any other reason which make our belief stronger that epidemic is not the cause here.

Option D matches with our pre thinking 1. You can eliminate rest of the option easily.

Cheers!!
RT

FEW or A FEW? If it said "A few of the much awaited tourist attractions have been opened in last three months in the three top beaches of country X", it could be correct. But since "Few" means "Nearly not" this choice is irrelevant

Official Solution:


Marine and Juhu Beach, located 5 miles apart, are the top two beaches in Country X. After an epidemic at Marine Beach in August, the number of tourists at Juhu Beach has since increased compared to the same period in previous years. It is therefore concluded that the increase in tourists at Juhu Beach is directly related to the epidemic at Marine Beach.

Which of the following, if true, would weaken this argument?


A. In spite of epidemic at Marine beach, there was little effect on tourists who visited country X.
B. The influx of tourists is normally higher in the months following August compared to the rest of the year.
C. There were several cases of drowning at Juhu Beach in the month of August this year.
D. Several highly anticipated tourist attractions have opened in the past three months at the top three beaches of Country X.
E. Although the two beaches are only 5 miles apart, there have been no reported cases of the infection in the area around Juhu Beach.


A. The argument is about the visitors in Juhu beach, not about total visitors in country X.

B. The passage states that the visitors to Juhu beach this year is higher than that last year (during the same time). That in general the no. of visitors in August is high does not explain or refute the difference between the numbers in two years.

C. The conclusion of the passage is that the increase in number of visitors is the effect of epidemic in marine beach. Number of drownings in Juhu beach does not affect this causal relation.

D. Correct. If the conclusion is that X causes Z, then weakening statement would be something else Y causes Z, since this statement gives reason to doubt the conclusion: Y, not X causes Z. Here X = Epidemic in Marine beach, Z = increase in visitors in Juhu beach, and Y = opening of other tourist attractions.

E. The reasoning is same as that in option C: this statement does not oppose the causal relation.


Answer: D