A team of pediatricians recently announced that pet birds are more

Question

A team of pediatricians recently announced that pet birds are more likely to bite children under age 13 than people of any other age group. The team’s finding was based on a study showing that the majority of all bird bites requiring medical attention involved children under 13. The study also found that the birds most likely to bite are cockatiels and parakeets.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the pediatricians’ conclusion that birds are more likely to bite children under age 13 than people of any other age group?

(A) More than half of bird bites not requiring medical attention, which exceed the number requiring such attention, involve people aged 13 and older.

(B) The majority of bird bites resulting in the death of the bitten person involve people aged 65 and older.

(C) Many serious bird bites affecting children under age 13 are inflicted by birds other than cockatiels and parakeets.

(D) Most bird bites in children under age 13 that require medical attention are far less serious than they initially appear.

(E) Most parents can learn to treat bird bites effectively if they avail themselves of a small amount of medical information.

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AryaSwagat · Answer

(A) More than half of bird bites not requiring medical attention, which exceed the number requiring such attention, involve people aged 13 and older.  When simplified it states that more than half of the bird bite cases don't require medical attention, and these bitten people are older than 13 years, so the number of bird bite cases involving people older than 13 years is more than the cases involving children lesser than 13 years.

(B) The majority of bird bites resulting in the death of the bitten person involve people aged 65 and older. It discusses a completely different case of bird bites resulting in death.

(C) Many serious bird bites affecting children under age 13 are inflicted by birds other than cockatiels and parakeets. Not relevant to the conclusion that birds are more likely to bite children under age 13 than people of any other age group

(D) Most bird bites in children under age 13 that require medical attention are far less serious than they initially appear.  Seriousness of injury not discussed

(E) Most parents can learn to treat bird bites effectively if they avail themselves of a small amount of medical information. How parents can treat injuries, irrelevant

So  A

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPE 
This stem contains a wealth of helpful information. Not only do you see the telltale key word “weaken” indicating the question type, but the conclusion of the argument is stated directly in the stem. Part of your job is already done.

STEP 2: UNTANGLE THE STIMULUS 
The conclusion of the pediatricians is that pet birds are more likely to bite young children than bite older people. The evidence for this is a study, which should ring alarm bells for representativeness issues. The study indicates that most bird-bite injuries that required medical attention were to young children.

STEP 3: PREDICT THE ANSWER 
But not all bird bites necessarily require medical attention, so in order for this study’s results to prove that birds are more likely to bite young children overall, you need proof that the bird bites requiring medical attention are representative of all bird bites. So to weaken this argument, find a choice that essentially says, “Bites that require medical attention are not representative of bites in general.”

STEP 4: EVALUATE THE CHOICES 
You’ll then be drawn to (A): looking at all bird-bite injuries reveals that most of them don’t require medical attention, and of those that don’t, more than half of them are suffered by people over the age of 13. (A) indicates that birds are just as likely, if not more likely, to bite people over the age of 13 as to bite younger children. Thus,  (A) is the correct answer.  Just because senior citizens are more likely to die from bird bites, as (B) says, doesn’t mean that they’re more likely to be bitten in the first place. (C) improperly seizes on the last sentence of the argument, which is a tangential statement that has no bearing on the overall conclusion. (D) is off base because the argument deals with the likelihood that a bird will bite someone, not with the likelihood that the bite is serious. (E) commits a similar error by dealing with treatment; this argument is only concerned with the relative frequency of bird bites occurring in the first place and not with the treatment plans for bites that have already occurred.

Paras96 · Answer

To weaken the pediatricians' conclusion that birds are more likely to bite children under age 13 than people of any other age group, we need to find evidence that suggests other age groups might also be at a significant risk of bird bites. Let's evaluate each answer choice:

(A) More than half of bird bites not requiring medical attention, which exceed the number requiring such attention, involve people aged 13 and older. 
 - This weakens the conclusion because it indicates that there are a significant number of bird bites involving people aged 13 and older, even though they don't require medical attention.

(B) The majority of bird bites resulting in the death of the bitten person involve people aged 65 and older.
 - This information is not relevant to the conclusion that children under age 13 are more likely to be bitten by birds. It deals with the severity of consequences but doesn't address the likelihood of bites.

(C) Many serious bird bites affecting children under age 13 are inflicted by birds other than cockatiels and parakeets.
 - This weakens the conclusion because it suggests that the type of bird might not be the primary factor in bird bites affecting children under age 13. Other birds might also pose a significant risk.

(D) Most bird bites in children under age 13 that require medical attention are far less serious than they initially appear.
 - This does not necessarily weaken the conclusion but instead relates to the seriousness of the bites. It doesn't provide evidence regarding the likelihood of bird bites among different age groups.

(E) Most parents can learn to treat bird bites effectively if they avail themselves of a small amount of medical information.
 - This does not address the likelihood of bird bites among different age groups and is more about treating bird bites.

Option (A) weakens the conclusion most effectively because it suggests that a significant number of bird bites involve people aged 13 and older, even if they don't require medical attention, thus casting doubt on the pediatricians' conclusion.

A team of pediatricians recently announced that pet birds are more

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A team of pediatricians recently announced that pet birds are more

Prep Toolkit

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