Consequent upon the ban imposed by the Government on smoking

Question

Consequent upon the ban imposed by the Government on smoking in public places there has been a decline in the sales of tobacco products, with every seller reporting a reduction of twenty percent or more in sales Volume. Smoking appears to be losing its appeal. The government claims that this is solely due to its ban.

Which of the following, if true, would weaken the Government's claim?

A. Though the number of smokes may have come down, there is an increase in the number of Smokers.
B. People continued to smoke in the areas other than those notified as 'No smoking zones'
C. There has been ambiguity regarding the classification of areas as 'public areas' and 'other places'.
D. Prices of cigarettes have gone up by over fifty percent after the ban was imposed.
E. After the Government ban, the local police have been following the smoking ban strictly.

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Masterscorp · Answer

Consequent upon the ban imposed by the Government on smoking in public places there has been a decline in the sales of tobacco products, with every seller reporting a reduction of twenty percent or more in sales Volume. Smoking appears to be losing its appeal. The government claims that this is solely due to its ban.

Which of the following, if true, would weaken the Government's claim?

Because the government claims that their ban on smoking in public places is the only cause for this effect we have to find another cause that could have led to the result of fewer tobacco products sold.

A. Though the number of smokes may have come down, there is an increase in the number of Smokers. This might seem tempting, but it can't be the correct answer. It puts doubt on the effectiveness of the ban. However, this judgement isn't asked in the question. Answer A doesn't give a reason why tobacco sales might have dropped.
B. People continued to smoke in the areas other than those notified as 'No smoking zones' This is quite obvious and hence irrelevant.
C. There has been ambiguity regarding the classification of areas as 'public areas' and 'other places'. This is similar to A. It could be used to question the effectiveness, but that doesn't matter for this question.
D. Prices of cigarettes have gone up by over fifty percent after the ban was imposed. This looks good. If prices increased a lot after the ban was imposed, fewer people might have been inclined to smoke. This gives us another factor that could have effected the decrease in tobacco sales. After checking the other answers, we know that it is the correct answer.
E. After the Government ban, the local police have been following the smoking ban strictly. Similar to A and C. This doesn't introduce a new cause that affected the drop in tobacco sales.

I hope that helps

mrinal0308 · Answer

Only D weakens the argument. Rest all the options are strengthening the argument. 
D is the answer

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gvij2017 · Answer

Sale volume of tobacco product reduced because of ban but rise in number of smokers could weaken the argument and ban of government. 
Answer "A" is winning choice. 
Where am I wrong?

Masterscorp · Answer

Hi,  gvij2017 , I will try to explain it to you.

Let's take a look at the question again:
 
The question asks about whether there are more reasons than the ban for the decrease in the dropped volume of tobacco sales. It doesn't ask about the effectiveness of the ban. This effectiveness is questioned in answer A, but this information doesn't help us to answer the question.

Does that make sense to you?

Jarvis07 · Answer

To weaken the government's claim that the decline in tobacco sales is solely due to its ban on smoking in public places, we need an option that suggests an alternative reason for the decline in sales.

Option D weakens the government's claim by stating that prices of cigarettes have gone up by over fifty percent after the ban was imposed. This implies that the decline in sales may be due to the increase in prices rather than the ban. If people are quitting smoking because of the high cost of cigarettes, it weakens the government's claim that the decline in sales is solely due to its ban.

Option A is irrelevant as it discusses the number of smokers, not the reasons for the decline in sales. Option B weakens the government's claim, but it suggests that people continue to smoke in other areas, which is not a clear alternative reason for the decline in sales. Option C is also irrelevant as it suggests that there is confusion regarding the classification of areas, but it does not provide an alternative reason for the decline in sales.

Therefore, option D is the best answer as it provides an alternative reason for the decline in sales and weakens the government's claim that the ban on smoking in public places is the sole cause of the decline.

Consequent upon the ban imposed by the Government on smoking

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Consequent upon the ban imposed by the Government on smoking

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