Antoine: The alarming fact is that among children aged 19 years and yo

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Antoine is alarmed that the number of children on antipsychotic medication has increased by 73 percent. Lucy begins her reply with “but,” indicating that she is about to counter either Antoine’s facts or his alarm; she accepts his facts but addresses his alarm. If the number of children taking antipsychotic medication is still within the normal range, the rate at which the total number has increased is not cause for alarm. Lucy shows that even though the total number of children on such medications has increased, children still take antipsychotic drugs at an even lower rate than do adults, and the current adult rate is considered normal.

(A) Lucy’s argument is that the rate of adults taking antipsychotic drugs is normal, and the rate of children taking such drugs is even lower. Thus, the argument does not lead to the conclusion that the current level of antipsychotic drug use in children is abnormally high.

(B) CORRECT. This statement properly identifies the conclusion to which Lucy’s argument is leading.

(C) Lucy does not dispute Antoine’s statistics, and her argument is designed to make a conclusion about their interpretation, not about their accuracy. Also, it is mathematically possible for the increase in the use of such medicines to be 73 percent, as Antoine cites. An increase from 3.8 to 6.6 out of every 1,000 represents an approximately 73 percent increase.

(D) There is no information about what might happen in the future, so no conclusion can be made about whether the use of antipsychotic medicines by children will increase or decrease, or at what rate that might happen.

(E) No information in Lucy’s argument supports the conclusion that the rate of antipsychotic drug use in children is higher than that reported.