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A) Setting the minimum age for drinking alcohol at 21 cannot be the only factor that affects the incidence of teenage drinking.

If the age-21 law were the only thing dictating whether teens drink, the rates between the US and Europe would look drastically different. Because the rates are virtually identical, there must be other variables at play (like culture, parental habits, or availability) driving the numbers. Therefore, the law cannot be the sole factor.
CORRECT


B) Setting the minimum age for drinking alcohol at 21 does not play a role in causing teenagers to begin drinking.
Just because the final drinking rates are similar doesn't mean the law plays absolute zero role in the US.


C) Setting a drinking age does not reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by teenagers.
The passage tells us absolutely nothing about the amount of alcohol those teenagers are consuming once they start.


D) Drinking alcohol can cause teenagers to engage in other illegal and illicit activities, such as smoking tobacco.
This introduces completely outside information. Smoking tobacco is never mentioned or hinted at in the prompt.


E) A higher percentage of teenagers drink in the United States than do in France.
The text explicitly states that the incidence is similar between the US and several European countries, which directly contradicts the idea that the US is notably "higher." Furthermore, France is never explicitly named in the passage.


ANS A
Bunuel
­Many people argue that setting the minimum age for drinking alcohol at 21 in the United States actually promotes teenage drinking. Believers in this position say that teenagers derive excitement from breaking the rules and drinking before they are allowed to. However, in several European countries where there is no legal drinking age, the incidence of teenage drinking is similar to the rate in the United States.

Which of the following statements can most reasonably be inferred from the information above?

A) Setting the minimum age for drinking alcohol at 21 cannot be the only factor that affects the incidence of teenage drinking.

B) Setting the minimum age for drinking alcohol at 21 does not play a role in causing teenagers to begin drinking.

C) Setting a drinking age does not reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by teenagers.

D) Drinking alcohol can cause teenagers to engage in other illegal and illicit activities, such as smoking tobacco.

E) A higher percentage of teenagers drink in the United States than do in France.


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A is correct.

A - correct - as we can understand from the passage that there are different outcomes which emerge when setting a lower minimum drinking age/no drinking age - one in USA where teenagers drink more where there is a minimum drinking age v/s another in europe where the incidence of teenage drinking is similar to that in the US even when there is no lgeal drinking age. This suggests that there are other factors which affect teenage drinking.

B - Nowhere is this said.
C - This too has not been stateted anywhere in the passage.
D - Other illegal activities have not been talked about in the passage.
E - The passage talks about Europe as a whole and not only FRance.
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