bkpolymers1617 wrote:
The mayor of Rome recently began an advertising campaign that discouraged the feeding of pigeons in the city's historic squares. Since the beginning of the campaign the number of pigeons recorded in the city by municipal employees has fallen by over 15%. Clearly the advertising campaign is having the desired effect and the pigeons are moving out of the city in search of food.
Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?
a) Since the beginning of the advertising campaign, the cost of bird feed available from street vendors has remained steady.
b) The children of the mayor of Rome have been seen outside his office chasing pigeons.
c) Veterinarians have detected the presence of a flu-like disease that seems to be affecting the pigeon populations in Rome.
d) The number of tourists per month that visit Rome is exactly the same as it was before the advertising campaign.
e) Surveys show that tourists to Rome enjoy seeing all the pigeons in the city's historic squares.
Conclusion:
The advertising campaign is having the desired effect and the pigeons are moving out of the city in search of food. What is the campaign all about? Discouraging the feeding of pigeon's in the city's historic squares![/b]
How can we weaken this?1)Find a reason to show that there are other possibilities why the pigeon sightings have fallen.
2)Weaken the campaign itself by stating that it is not working as expected.
a) Since the beginning of the advertising campaign, the cost of bird feed available from street vendors has remained steady.
If the price of bird feed has remained steady, why has the pigeon sightings fallen? - Doesn't help!
b) The children of the mayor of Rome have been seen outside his office chasing pigeons.
Clearly irrelevant plus we are concerned about the pigeon sightings around historic squares!
c) Veterinarians have detected the presence of a flu-like disease that seems to be affecting the pigeon populations in Rome.
Perfect ~ out of the two points, it answers the first one!
d) The number of tourists per month that visit Rome is exactly the same as it was before the advertising campaign.
Are we concerned about the tourist visits?
e) Surveys show that tourists to Rome enjoy seeing all the pigeons in the city's historic squares.
Irrelevant!IMO, (C)!