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Updated on: 17 Dec 2019, 22:50
Originally posted by vermatanya on 23 Jan 2008, 22:36.
Last edited by Bunuel on 17 Dec 2019, 22:50, edited 6 times in total.
Last edited by Bunuel on 17 Dec 2019, 22:50, edited 6 times in total.
Edited the question.
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
71% (01:45) correct
29%
(02:09)
wrong
based on 3216
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Recently political pressure groups have become far more effective at persuading industrial corporations to change. For example, as a result of the efforts of animal groups, many pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies have reduced their use of laboratory animals, substituting in their place alternative methods of product testing.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the connection between pressure group activity and corporate change claimed above?
(A) Many companies in the pharmaceutical industry have increased their public relations spending in order to counter the activity of animal rights groups.
(B) Before the new methods of testing products are used, they have to be calibrated by comparison tests involving experiments on laboratory animals.
(C) When companies stop using laboratory animals, they generally go to some expense to publicize this change of policy.
(D) The pharmaceutical manufacturers who still use laboratory animals are mostly the smaller firms that have been less subject to pressure group activity.
(E) The methods of product testing that do not involve laboratory animals are faster and cheaper than the methods that do.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the connection between pressure group activity and corporate change claimed above?
(A) Many companies in the pharmaceutical industry have increased their public relations spending in order to counter the activity of animal rights groups.
(B) Before the new methods of testing products are used, they have to be calibrated by comparison tests involving experiments on laboratory animals.
(C) When companies stop using laboratory animals, they generally go to some expense to publicize this change of policy.
(D) The pharmaceutical manufacturers who still use laboratory animals are mostly the smaller firms that have been less subject to pressure group activity.
(E) The methods of product testing that do not involve laboratory animals are faster and cheaper than the methods that do.
04 Mar 2019, 01:25
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mallya12
To see the issue with answer choice (B), first look back at the exact wording of the question (the question as written in the original post left out a word; it has since been fixed, so this is the correct version):
Quote:
So, we are looking for a weakness in the connection between pressure group activity and corporate change. The author claims that "many pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies have reduced their use of laboratory animals" as a result of "the efforts of animal groups." As we go through the answer choices, we need to cast doubt on the claim that this corporate change was a result of political pressure group activity.
Let's take a look at answer choice (B):
Quote:
Answer choice (B) tells us that the shift away from using laboratory animals is not immediate, because new methods "have to be calibrated by comparison tests involving experiments on laboratory animals." However, this answer choice gives us no information on whether the corporate change is due to the activity of political pressure groups or some other factor. Because of this, answer choice (B) does not cast doubt on the claim that corporate change was a result of political pressure groups. (B) is out.
Now look again at (E):
Quote:
This answer choice gives an alternate explanation for the corporate change away from using laboratory animals-- instead of being influenced by political pressure groups, maybe corporations changed because other methods were "faster and cheaper" than using animals. This casts doubt on the connection between political pressure group activity and corporate change. (E) is the correct answer.
I hope that helps!
24 Apr 2019, 00:25
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vermatanya
Argument:
As a result of the efforts of animal groups, many pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies have reduced their use of laboratory animals, substituting in their place alternative methods of product testing.
Conclusion: Recently political pressure groups have become far more effective at persuading industrial corporations to change.
We need to weaken this claim. That the change may not have been driven by political pressure groups. That the political pressure groups may not have become more effective at persuading change.
(A) Many companies in the pharmaceutical industry have increased their public relations spending in order to counter the activity of animal rights groups.
PR spending of industry is irrelevant. They reduced their use of lab animals as a result of animal groups. If they are trying to counter the damage done by animal groups by spending more on PR, it doesn't weaken the claim that political pressure groups have become more effective.
(B) Before the new methods of testing products are used, they have to be calibrated by comparison tests involving experiments on laboratory animals.
It doesn't matter that the new tests have to be calibrated by using animals in the beginning. The new methods are being used now instead of animals. The animal groups have been successful in putting pressure on the pharma industry.
(C) When companies stop using laboratory animals, they generally go to some expense to publicize this change of policy.
Again, irrelevant. If the pharma companies stop using lab animals due to pressure from animal rights groups, our conclusion is fine. Even if they publicise later that they are not using lab animals to earn some brownie points in the public, it doesn't matter.
(D) The pharmaceutical manufacturers who still use laboratory animals are mostly the smaller firms that have been less subject to pressure group activity.
This strengthens our argument. The larger manufacturers have seen pressure from animal right groups and have given in to other methods. The smaller ones have not been pressurised so are not using other methods. It does seem to imply that animal right groups have been responsible for the change.
(E) The methods of product testing that do not involve laboratory animals are faster and cheaper that the methods that do.
Now this is a twist. If the other methods are faster and cheaper, it is possible that companies are switching not because animal right groups have become more effective at persuading, but because the companies want to save money. This introduces an alternative reason for the switch and weakens the argument's claim.
Answer (E)
