PrepTest 47, Section 2, Question 22
Columnist: There are certain pesticides that, even though they have been banned for use in the United States for nearly 30 years, are still manufactured there and exported to other countries. In addition to jeopardizing the health of people in these other countries, this practice greatly increases the health risk to U.S. consumers, for these pesticides are often used on agricultural products imported into the United States.
Columnist: There are certain pesticides that, even though they have been banned for use in the United States for nearly 30 years, are still manufactured there and exported to other countries. In addition to jeopardizing the health of people in these other countries, this practice greatly increases the health risk to U.S. consumers, for these pesticides are often used on agricultural products imported into the United States.
Columnist: There are certain pesticides that, even though they have been banned for use in the United States for nearly 30 years, are still manufactured there and exported to other countries. In addition to jeopardizing the health of people in these other countries, this practice greatly increases the health risk to U.S. consumers, for these pesticides are often used on agricultural products imported into the United States.
Columnist: There are certain pesticides that, even though they have been banned for use in the United States for nearly 30 years, are still manufactured there and exported to other countries. In addition to jeopardizing the health of people in these other countries, this practice greatly increases the health risk to U.S. consumers, for these pesticides are often used on agricultural products imported into the United States.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the columnist's argument?
Trace amounts of some of the pesticides banned for use in the United States can be detected in the soil where they were used 30 years ago.
Most of the pesticides that are manufactured in the United States and exported are not among those banned for use in the United States.
The United States is not the only country that manufactures and exports the pesticides that are banned for use in the United States.
The banned pesticides pose a greater risk to people in the countries in which they are used than to U.S. consumers.
There are many pesticides that are banned for use in other countries that are not banned for use in the United States.
Explanations
This columnist argues that the U.S. practice of manufacturing and exporting pesticides banned within their own country greatly increases health risks to U.S. consumers.
Why? Because these sorts of pesticides are frequently used on agricultural products imported into the U.S.
This might strike you as a reasonable argument, but it certainly isn't proven. For example, what if dozens of other countries also export these pesticides to the same countries as the U.S.? Then it could very well be the case that those other countries are creating the health risks for U.S. consumers, not the U.S.'s export practice itself.
Every. Word. Counts.
We're asked to weaken this argument, so we're going in armed with a pretty solid prediction.
Let's see.
Nah, this is irrelevant to the author's conclusion. This can be true and have no effect on the increased risks or lack thereof to U.S. consumers of today's imported agricultural products.
Nope. Even if most exported pesticides aren't the banned sort, the minority of exported pesticides could still be making their way back to U.S. consumers on imported agricultural products.
Yes, exactly. Let's take things to a logical extreme to make sense of this. Imagine every single country in the world manufactures and exports these pesticides. If that's the case, how could we possibly allege that it's the U.S. export practice specifically that causes health risks to U.S. consumers? We couldn't, which is why this is a devastating weakener and will be the correct answer.
Nah. I'm willing to accept that this is probably the case, but even so, it doesn't impact the likelihood that U.S. consumers face great risk from the U.S.'s export practice.
No. Like D, I'm sure this is true, but it doesn't tell me whether or not this U.S. export practice poses risks to consumers.
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