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Bunuel
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The increase in taxes on cigarettes next month will not limit the use 13 Nov 2025, 00:33
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57% (01:08) correct 43% (01:10) wrong based on 124 sessions

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The increase in taxes on cigarettes next month will not limit the use of addictive tobacco products to the extent that health advocates hope. Many cigarette smokers will shift their spending to cigars and chewing tobacco when the law takes effect.

Which of the following, if true, would most strongly weaken the argument above?

A. Cigars and chewing tobacco can satisfy the nicotine cravings of most cigarette smokers.

B. The taste, smell, and texture of cigars and chewing tobacco are sufficiently different from those of cigarettes to deter cigarette smokers from using them.

C. Many health advocates themselves use tobacco products.

D. The government might also impose significant taxes on cigars and chewing tobacco over the course of two years.

E. Cigars and chewing tobacco are often more expensive than cigarettes.


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B
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OneLazyBum
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The increase in taxes on cigarettes next month will not limit the use 13 Nov 2025, 02:13
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Can someone please help
I am confused between option (B) and (E)
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MansikaVats
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The increase in taxes on cigarettes next month will not limit the use 13 Nov 2025, 05:29
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Well I think its option B because it gives us more clear reason and explanation about how the smell and taste of chewing tobacco and cigars will deter smokers from using them . Hence the claim that they will likely move to consuming these products might fall .

You are free to correct me if i am wrong .
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The increase in taxes on cigarettes next month will not limit the use 13 Nov 2025, 09:27
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OneLazyBum
Can someone please help
I am confused between option (B) and (E)
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For me (E) is less certain because we don't know by how much are they more expensive, so we cannot compare their current price with the price of cigs + tax. Plus the word often is quite vague
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The increase in taxes on cigarettes next month will not limit the use 13 Nov 2025, 11:29
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Bunuel
The increase in taxes on cigarettes next month will not limit the use of addictive tobacco products to the extent that health advocates hope. Many cigarette smokers will shift their spending to cigars and chewing tobacco when the law takes effect.

Which of the following, if true, would most strongly weaken the argument above?

A. Cigars and chewing tobacco can satisfy the nicotine cravings of most cigarette smokers.

B. The taste, smell, and texture of cigars and chewing tobacco are sufficiently different from those of cigarettes to deter cigarette smokers from using them.

C. Many health advocates themselves use tobacco products.

D. The government might also impose significant taxes on cigars and chewing tobacco over the course of two years.

E. Cigars and chewing tobacco are often more expensive than cigarettes.


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The taxes on cigarettes are going to increase from next month, this will eventually lead to increase in price of cigarettes compared to previous month. The health advocates claim that this increase in taxes, might help reduce the consumption of addictive tobacco products. But, this won’t be the case.

As many cigarettes consumers will shift to alternative tobacco products like - chewing tobacco and smoking cigars.

We need to find a strong weakener, this means there exists a weak weakener amongst the options.

A. Cigars and chewing tobacco can satisfy the nicotine cravings of most cigarette smokers.

If the alternative variants of tobacco satisfies the nicotine cravings of most cigarettes smokers, they might shift to these alternatives. This might strengthen the health advocates claim. Hence, wrong.

B. The taste, smell, and texture of cigars and chewing tobacco are sufficiently different from those of cigarettes to deter cigarette smokers from using them.

If the taste, smell and texture are different from cigarettes, these features might hamper the use of these alternative products and incline more towards smoking cigarettes. It’s not the price rise, but these features which have resulted in either the status quo or increase. This is a weakener, but let’s look for other choices as well.

C. Many health advocates themselves use tobacco products.

There can be overlapping between persons using tobacco products and health advocates. As, profession and personal choice is different. The former is not discussed here. Hence, wrong.

D. The government might also impose significant taxes on cigars and chewing tobacco over the course of two years.

The question speaks about the impact of taxes from next month, while the option speaks about the future proposal which might take place over the course of two years. Another aspect, is the new taxation mentioned in the option might take place or may not. Hence, wrong.

E. Cigars and chewing tobacco are often more expensive than cigarettes.

This option mentions that the price tag on tobacco alternatives are higher when compared to the cigarettes cost. If suppose even after the taxation being increased, the price of cigarettes might land short than the cigar and chewing tobacco. OR There can be a case where, the taxation might have lead to exorbitant increase in price of cigarettes. This would lead the consumer to opt for lower price points - we have different choices for each case. Hence, this weakens the argument more lightly than option B.

Hence, option B
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