Logical Reasoning

PT120 · S1 · Q22 Columnist: There are certain pesticides

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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.

Conclusion

This practice of making and exporting pesticides that are banned for use in the US greatly increases the health risk to US consumers.

Evidence (for)

These pesticides are often used on agricultural products imported into the US.

Evaluate

Given that ... the US is sending pesticides out into the world (that it has banned domestic farmers from using) and that ... these pesticides are often used on food products that then get imported back into the US,

How could we argue that ... sending these pesticides out into the world is not greatly increasing the health risk to US consumers?

Maybe we could say the amounts of these pesticides that are on products we import back into the US is negligible.

Maybe we could say that the pesticides weren't banned because of health risks but for some other reason.

Maybe we could say that the vast majority of Americans don't consume enough of these imported products for the pesticide consumption to be significant.

Goal

We need some way of arguing that this practice of exporting banned pesticides (which come back to us on some of the food we import) is not greatly increasing the health risk to US consumers).

22.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the columnist's argument?

  1. Trace amounts of some of

    Opposite, if anything

    The fact that these pesticides we banned 30 years ago are still in the soil makes the pesticides sounds scarier, more harmful, more lasting. We want the opposite of that.

    11% picked this

  2. Most of the pesticides that

    Weak Impact

    This answer has nothing to do with "this practice" from the conclusion. We're trying to find an answer that allows us to say our practice of exporting banned pesticides is not greatly increasing our health risk. This answer is saying, "well, those banned pesticides are only a minority of the pesticides we export". That helps a little, although if I were trying to argue that my liquor consumption is not greatly increasing my health risk by saying, "Most of the liquid I drink isn't liquor", that's a pretty weak defense. When you're talking about toxins / poisons, you don't need there to be a lot for it to matter. If I drop a few drops of arsenic or LSD into your pint glass of water, the fact that it's 99% water is not going to save you from the effects of the highly potent stuff I put in there. By adding that to your water, I have greatly increased your risk of a bad night. Similarly, if only 40% of the pesticides the US makes and exports are these banned ones, it could still be greatly elevating our risk from "no poison on our imported produce" to "omg, there's poison on our produce".

    32% picked this

  3. Correct

    The United States is not

    Why this is right

    This is one of my all-time least favorite correct answers, so take my defense of it as reluctant. This is also a very weak claim. It says there's at least one other country that makes and exports these banned pesticides. The innuendo LSAC was going for is, "The US isn't greatly increasing the health risk to its consumers by exporting these banned pesticides. Sure, some of our imported food has these pesticides on them, but it's not like if we stopped exporting the pesticides that our imported food would stop having those pesticides on them. After all, (this answer says) there are other countries who are making and exporting this pesticide onto the world market." This type of objection leans heavily on the modifier "greatly" in the conclusion. By the US making and exporting these banned pesticides, thus adding a greater supply of them to the world market, we seem to definitely be increasing our risk of having them on our food. But are we greatly increasing our risk, if other countries are out making these pesticides also? This is one of the only correct answers to Strengthen, Weaken, Paradox that has language this weak: "at least one other country makes and exports this". A weak impact answer can still win the "best available answer" sweepstakes if the other answers do nothing or go the wrong way.

    Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    35% picked this

  4. The banned pesticides pose a

    Irrelevant Comparison

    The conclusion isn't comparing the risk to US consumers with the risk to other people in the world. It's comparing the risk to US consumers in a world where we do make and export these banned pesticides to the risk to US consumers in a world where we don't make and export them.

    11% picked this

  5. There are many pesticides that

    Unclear Impact

    I find this almost as compelling as the correct answer (because I don't find the correct answer compelling). This answer presents some innuendo that might lead us to counterargue, "Just because the US bans these pesticides doesn't mean they're harmful pesticides. The choice to ban or not ban a pesticide can be complex or arbitrary. It doesn't have to indicate a fear of the health risks posed by that pesticide. After all, the US tolerates a lot of pesticides that are banned in other countries." I'm adding a lot to make that story work. The fact that other countries ban stuff that we don't isn't something with a clear takeaway. Meanwhile, with the correct answer, it's clear that if some other countries make and export the banned pesticide, then the US would still be at risk of importing food with this pesticide on it, even if the US were to stop making and exporting the banned pesticides.

    10% picked this

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