Logical Reasoning

PT127 · S3 · Q20 Newspaper article: People who

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Newspaper article: People who take vitamin C supplements tend to be healthier than average.

Conclusion

People who take vitamin C supplements tend to be healthier than average.

Evidence

A study investigating the relationship between high doses of vitamin C and heart disease showed that people who regularly consume high doses of vitamin C supplements have a significantly lower than average risk of heart disease.

Evaluate

We're given a curious fact -- why is there a correlation between high doses of vit C || lower risk of heart disease ?

Does the author offer a causal explanation for the correlation?

Not really. The conclusion isn't causal. It's just saying that ppl who take vit C supplements tend to be healthier than average.

"Tend to be" is just a statistical claim, not a causal one. So we probably shouldn't be trying to attack this question like we would a causal argument (trying to think of Alternate Explanations for the curious fact or trying to hurt the plausibility of the causal storyline the author is selling us).

So we can just think, in typical weaken fashion,

Goal

Given that ppl who take high doses of vit C have lower risk of heart disease, how can we say that ppl who take vitamin C do not tend to be healthier than average?

Maybe most ppl who take vitamin C don't take high doses of it, so the evidence is irrelevant to the conclusion. Maybe most ppl who take vit C are good when it comes to heart disease, but have lots of other health problems (thus they wouldn't be healthier than average, overall).

20.

Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument in the newspaper article?

  1. Vitamin C taken in the

    Out of Scope

    The argument does not consider vitamin C taken in food.

    5% picked this

  2. The reduction in risk of

    Unclear Impact

    The fact that other dietary changes could also reduce risk of heart disease doesn't weaken the argument. We would have to know that most of the population is doing these other dietary changes, in order to use this answer to argue that people who take vitamin C supplements aren't healthier than average. We'd be saying, "Sure, they take vit C supplements, which lowers their risk of heart disease, but most of the people who don't take vit C supplements cut fat and cholesterol out of their diets, which lowers their risk of heart disease. So ppl who take vit C supplements are probably just average health." But since we don't know what proportion of the population does these "certain other dietary changes", we can't judge how vitamin C people's health compares to average health.

    34% picked this

  3. Taking both vitamin C supplements

    Too Weak

    That another approach is more effective at reducing one’s risk of developing heart disease does not reduce the likelihood that people who take vitamin C supplements tend to be healthier than average.

    2% picked this

  4. Correct

    High doses of vitamin C

    Why this is right

    This introduces something other than heart disease to consider. If one was more vulnerable to infectious diseases, the claim that those who consume vitamin C tend to be healthier would be less likely to be true.

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

    58% picked this

  5. Taking vitamin C supplements has

    Strengthen

    This makes it more likely that those who take vitamin C supplements tend to be healthier than average.

    0% picked this

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