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655-705 (Hard)|   Weaken|      
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Nightmare007
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 17 Apr 2017, 18:47
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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:

55% (hard)

Question Stats:

67% (02:23) correct 33% (02:33) wrong based on 1310 sessions

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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a significant percentage of the population had been using X on a daily basis without any apparent harm to the community at large, reset the benchmark for what is appropriate and proper behavior among their citizens. Since X's legalization, there has been an increase in manic depression, suicide and certain kinds of cancer. In order for Andovia, a country that has not yet legalized X,to avoid the development of such undesirable tendencies and prevent the social problems stemming from broad usage of drug X, it should close its borders and not issue visas to any tourists from countries where drug X is legal.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A. Drug X emits a faint smell that makes it very difficult for trained canines to identify at border control points.

B. The detrimental side effects of drug X only become visible after several years of usage.

C. Andovia is surrounded on three sides by water, but has an excellent naval border police force.

D. Drug X resembles several other designer drugs currently on the market.

E. Drug X is very easy to extract chemically from certain consumer products and is taken in droplet size doses that can easily be camouflaged as items such as hairspray or nail polish remover.
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E
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Nightmare007
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 17 Apr 2017, 19:24
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bhawana003
D?

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OA is E . since, Shutting off the imports can't stop the spread of drugs as it is easily made inside with consumer products.
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 17 Apr 2017, 22:17
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bhawana003
D?

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OA is E . since, Shutting off the imports can't stop the spread of drugs as it is easily made inside with consumer products.
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Yep, E IMO as well as this won't prevent people from bringing the drug inside the country


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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 18 Apr 2017, 01:56
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Nightmare007
Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a significant percentage of the population had been using X on a daily basis without any apparent harm to the community at large, reset the benchmark for what is appropriate and proper behavior among their citizens. Since X's legalization, there has been an increase in manic depression, suicide and certain kinds of cancer. In order for Andovia, a country that has not yet legalized X,to avoid the development of such undesirable tendencies and prevent the social problems stemming from broad usage of drug X, it should close its borders and not issue visas to any tourists from countries where drug X is legal.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A Drug X emits a faint smell that makes it very difficult for trained canines to identify at border control points.
B The detrimental side effects of drug X only become visible after several years of usage.
C Andovia is surrounded on three sides by water, but has an excellent naval border police force.
D Drug X resembles several other designer drugs currently on the market.
E Drug X is very easy to extract chemically from certain consumer products and is taken in droplet size doses that can easily be camouflaged as items such as hairspray or nail polish remover.
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Weaken
Conclusion: In order for Andovia, a country that has not yet legalized X,to avoid the development of such undesirable tendencies and prevent the social problems stemming from broad usage of drug X, it should close its borders and not issue visas to any tourists from countries where drug X is legal.
Prethinking: So banning tourists and not issuing visas should solve the problem.
But what if say the citizens of Andovia(who are not banned from travelling) go to those coutries and smuggle drugs home?
Or maybe the drug is made from some plant easily available in Andovia?

Option E
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 18 Apr 2017, 07:02
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Hi expert,
Can you please assist with your reasoning to eliminate (D)?
IMHO,(D) is another contender.I interpret this option as an alternative explanation to the increase in manic depression--people mistakenly attribute drug X as a cause of the depression.

Thanks.
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 18 Apr 2017, 09:11
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sleepynut
Hi expert,
Can you please assist with your reasoning to eliminate (D)?
IMHO,(D) is another contender.I interpret this option as an alternative explanation to the increase in manic depression--people mistakenly attribute drug X as a cause of the depression.

Thanks.
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resembles -Meaning Look alike. Not in properties or anything. :) . I hope you understood.
and we need to weaken the conclusion by saying that the policy won't help out.
E clearly states that . Even if outsides are blocked as per the policy people people still have access to that drug by making at their home using consumer products.

+kudos if you liked the answer .
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 10 Aug 2017, 01:15
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sleepynut
Hi expert,
Can you please assist with your reasoning to eliminate (D)?
IMHO,(D) is another contender.I interpret this option as an alternative explanation to the increase in manic depression--people mistakenly attribute drug X as a cause of the depression.

Thanks.
resembles -Meaning Look alike. Not in properties or anything. :) . I hope you understood.
and we need to weaken the conclusion by saying that the policy won't help out.
E clearly states that . Even if outsides are blocked as per the policy people people still have access to that drug by making at their home using consumer products.

+kudos if you liked the answer .
Show more


Thank you for the clariifcation.

I have a followup enquiry on this answer choice.

Say, if the Answer choice is:
Several other designer drugs functions the same and also have the same side effect like Drug X does.


Would this answer choice be better than Answer choice E??
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 25 Oct 2017, 14:43
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D is out of scope. currently on the market - where? in other countries where X is legal or in Andovia? Also, do those designer drugs resemble X's properties or looks?

E basically says Even if CAUSE occurs [close its borders and not issue visas] EFFECT does NOT occur [citizens' access to X] - as they might be able to produce themselves.

Straight forward

Regards



Nightmare007
Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a significant percentage of the population had been using X on a daily basis without any apparent harm to the community at large, reset the benchmark for what is appropriate and proper behavior among their citizens. Since X's legalization, there has been an increase in manic depression, suicide and certain kinds of cancer. In order for Andovia, a country that has not yet legalized X,to avoid the development of such undesirable tendencies and prevent the social problems stemming from broad usage of drug X, it should close its borders and not issue visas to any tourists from countries where drug X is legal.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A Drug X emits a faint smell that makes it very difficult for trained canines to identify at border control points.
B The detrimental side effects of drug X only become visible after several years of usage.
C Andovia is surrounded on three sides by water, but has an excellent naval border police force.
D Drug X resembles several other designer drugs currently on the market.
E Drug X is very easy to extract chemically from certain consumer products and is taken in droplet size doses that can easily be camouflaged as items such as hairspray or nail polish remover.
Show more
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 02 Apr 2024, 20:25
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Can someone explain why A is wrong? If drug X has a faint smell and its hard for dogs to detect, wouldn't that mean they can easily sneak drug x in?
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 16 Jul 2025, 01:12
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Nightmare007
Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a significant percentage of the population had been using X on a daily basis without any apparent harm to the community at large, reset the benchmark for what is appropriate and proper behavior among their citizens. Since X's legalization, there has been an increase in manic depression, suicide and certain kinds of cancer. In order for Andovia, a country that has not yet legalized X,to avoid the development of such undesirable tendencies and prevent the social problems stemming from broad usage of drug X, it should close its borders and not issue visas to any tourists from countries where drug X is legal.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A. Drug X emits a faint smell that makes it very difficult for trained canines to identify at border control points.

B. The detrimental side effects of drug X only become visible after several years of usage.

C. Andovia is surrounded on three sides by water, but has an excellent naval border police force.

D. Drug X resembles several other designer drugs currently on the market.

E. Drug X is very easy to extract chemically from certain consumer products and is taken in droplet size doses that can easily be camouflaged as items such as hairspray or nail polish remover.
Show more

The correct answer is E.

Explanation

The argument claims that Andovia should close its borders and restrict entry to tourists from countries where drug X is legal to prevent the drug from becoming widespread and causing social problems. This relies on the assumption that controlling the entry of people from these countries will effectively control the entry of the drug itself.
Option E directly attacks this assumption by stating that Drug X is extremely easy to conceal and extract from common household items. This implies that even with strict border closures and visa restrictions, individuals could easily smuggle the drug into Andovia without being detected. If drug X can be easily smuggled through other means, then restricting tourists from countries where it is legal wouldn't be an effective way to prevent its proliferation in Andovia.

Why other options are incorrect

A. Drug X emits a faint smell that makes it very difficult for trained canines to identify at border control points. This weakens the argument slightly by suggesting that detection at the border might be challenging. However, it does not completely negate the effectiveness of border closures as a preventative measure, especially if authorities employ other methods of detection beyond canines.

B. The detrimental side effects of drug X only become visible after several years of usage. This strengthens the argument, as it suggests a greater need for preventative measures to protect the population from long-term harm.

C. Andovia is surrounded on three sides by water, but has an excellent naval border police force. This strengthens the argument, as it implies that Andovia has robust measures in place to enforce border control, making the proposed solution more feasible.

D. Drug X resembles several other designer drugs currently on the market. This might make it harder to identify Drug X, but doesn't necessarily mean border controls are entirely useless. It might necessitate improved drug testing techniques, but not necessarily a rejection of border controls as a whole.

Source: AI Overview
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Countries that legalized the drug X twenty years ago, because a signif 16 Jul 2025, 01:14
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jj1234qwerty
Can someone explain why A is wrong? If drug X has a faint smell and its hard for dogs to detect, wouldn't that mean they can easily sneak drug x in?
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Drug X emits a faint smell that makes it very difficult for trained canines to identify at border control points. This weakens the argument slightly by suggesting that detection at the border might be challenging. However, it does not completely negate the effectiveness of border closures as a preventative measure, especially if authorities employ other methods of detection beyond canines.
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