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505-555 (Easy)|   Weaken|      
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Bunuel
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Nearly 5 million children in the United States have asthma, the most 28 Apr 2025, 00:30
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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

15% (low)

Question Stats:

91% (01:12) correct 9% (01:31) wrong based on 121 sessions

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Nearly 5 million children in the United States have asthma, the most common chronic illness of childhood. In the state of Arizona, one in twenty children has asthma, whereas in New York, one in ten children has asthma. If a couple from New York should begin their family in Arizona, their children would be less likely to develop asthma than if the family should remain in New York.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion drawn in the passage?

(A) Many asthmatics do not believe that moving to Arizona will significantly decrease the risk of developing asthma.
(B) The governor of New York's claims that statistics for her state are inaccurate has been proven false.
(C) Whether or not a child develops asthma depends on genetic factors.
(D) Developing asthma is usually a result of environmental factors.
(E) The average child from New York has better lung capacity than the average child from Arizona.


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C
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Nearly 5 million children in the United States have asthma, the most 28 Apr 2025, 00:42
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Option C
Quote:
Whether or not a child develops asthma depends on genetic factors.
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  • If asthma depends mainly on genetics, then moving to another state (Arizona) may NOT reduce the risk!
  • Children of New York parents might still inherit asthma genetically regardless of where they live.
This directly attacks the argument's assumption that moving reduces risk.
Strong contender.

Bunuel
Nearly 5 million children in the United States have asthma, the most common chronic illness of childhood. In the state of Arizona, one in twenty children has asthma, whereas in New York, one in ten children has asthma. If a couple from New York should begin their family in Arizona, their children would be less likely to develop asthma than if the family should remain in New York.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion drawn in the passage?

(A) Many asthmatics do not believe that moving to Arizona will significantly decrease the risk of developing asthma.
(B) The governor of New York's claims that statistics for her state are inaccurate has been proven false.
(C) Whether or not a child develops asthma depends on genetic factors.
(D) Developing asthma is usually a result of environmental factors.
(E) The average child from New York has better lung capacity than the average child from Arizona.


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Nearly 5 million children in the United States have asthma, the most 28 Apr 2025, 11:49
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Bunuel
Nearly 5 million children in the United States have asthma, the most common chronic illness of childhood. In the state of Arizona, one in twenty children has asthma, whereas in New York, one in ten children has asthma. If a couple from New York should begin their family in Arizona, their children would be less likely to develop asthma than if the family should remain in New York.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion drawn in the passage?

(A) Many asthmatics do not believe that moving to Arizona will significantly decrease the risk of developing asthma.
(B) The governor of New York's claims that statistics for her state are inaccurate has been proven false.
(C) Whether or not a child develops asthma depends on genetic factors.
(D) Developing asthma is usually a result of environmental factors.
(E) The average child from New York has better lung capacity than the average child from Arizona.


­
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First statement is a statistical statement , more generic to USA.

The passage suggests that children in Arizona are less likely to develop asthma because the asthma rate in Arizona (1 in 20) is lower than in New York (1 in 10).

This conclusion assumes that geographical location is an important factor in Arizona contributing to the lower asthma rate.

Option C states that genetic factors play a significant role in whether a child develops asthma. If genetic factors are more important than geographical factors, then the location (Arizona vs. New York) may not matter as much in determining whether a child develops asthma.

This weakens the conclusion because it suggests that moving to Arizona may not significantly reduce the risk of asthma if genetics is the causative factor.

Thus, Option C seriously weakens the argument in the passage.
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Nearly 5 million children in the United States have asthma, the most 28 Apr 2025, 23:51
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The passage conclusion is if one child is born in Arizona he/she is less likely to get asthama in comparison to one child is born in New York. Lets analyze the statements which can weaken this conclusion:

(A) Many asthmatics do not believe that moving to Arizona will significantly decrease the risk of developing asthma.
Factual information. Eliminate
(B) The governor of New York's claims that statistics for her state are inaccurate has been proven false.
But that doesn't mean Arizona will have less asthamatic childs
(C) Whether or not a child develops asthma depends on genetic factors.
This statement is independent of location one child is born and therefore negates the claim. Correct answer.
(D) Developing asthma is usually a result of environmental factors.
Factual information. Eliminate
(E) The average child from New York has better lung capacity than the average child from Arizona.
Irrelevant. Eliminate.
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Nearly 5 million children in the United States have asthma, the most 04 May 2025, 04:30
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Bunuel
Nearly 5 million children in the United States have asthma, the most common chronic illness of childhood. In the state of Arizona, one in twenty children has asthma, whereas in New York, one in ten children has asthma. If a couple from New York should begin their family in Arizona, their children would be less likely to develop asthma than if the family should remain in New York.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion drawn in the passage?

(A) Many asthmatics do not believe that moving to Arizona will significantly decrease the risk of developing asthma.
(B) The governor of New York's claims that statistics for her state are inaccurate has been proven false.
(C) Whether or not a child develops asthma depends on genetic factors.
(D) Developing asthma is usually a result of environmental factors.
(E) The average child from New York has better lung capacity than the average child from Arizona.
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Official Explanation

This is a Weaken question, as indicated by the language, "would most seriously weaken." The stimulus states that, since 1 in 20 children in Arizona has asthma and 1 in 10 children in New York has asthma, if New Yorkers move to Arizona to have children, their children will have less of a chance of developing asthma.

The assumption is that it is the location itself that explains the difference between the statistics, and not some other factor. A weakener will attack the author's assumption. It will make it less likely that the location is what is causing the different rates of asthma. The correct choice might do this by either addressing something about the locations themselves, or by suggesting some other reason for the different asthma rates.

(C) suggests another reason for the different asthma rates, and is therefore correct. If genetic factors are responsible for asthma, then environment (i.e., state of birth) has no role.

(A) is incorrect because whether asthmatics believe that moving to Arizona will decrease the risk of developing asthma has no bearing on whether moving to Arizona actually will decrease such risk.

(B) just confirms that the statistics are accurate. This was never in question, however. The evidence should always be accepted as true. The question is whether the conclusion follows from that evidence. (B) doesn't deal with this.

(D) is a 180, as it would strengthen the argument if true. The argument assumes that the locations (i.e., environment) are what explain the different asthma rates. (D) lends support to that assumption.

(E) deals with lung capacity, not asthma. The argument is about asthma, and (E) states nothing to connect asthma to lung capacity. Thus, (E) is irrelevant to the argument.

TAKEAWAY: With Weaken questions, keep the focus on the connection between the stated evidence and the conclusion - the assumption. Don't forget that the task is to attack that connection. That will make it easier to avoid wrong choices.
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