Researchers announced recently that

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope0% picked this

   Most people who purchase a sunscreen product will not purchase the most

   This doesn't present any difference between sunscreen users Then and Now, and there's no common sense link between most expensive brand and most effective brand.

   0%
2. B

   Correct68% picked this

   Skin cancer generally develops among the very old as a result of sunburns experienced

   Why this is right

   This didn't weaken in the typical way, but it gives us a way to make an excuse for why the incidence of sunscreen is rising --- the people getting cancer now are being "punished" for their lack of sunscreen 25+ years ago (the gap between very old and very young). The people nowadays who are using sunscreen more will not have as high an incidence of skin cancer when they get very old (25+ years from now). Basically, skin cancer is a lagging indicator of how much sunscreen people are using. It's like looking at a star in the sky. You don't see it as it is; you see it as it was.

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

   68%
3. C

   No Impact2% picked this

   The development of sunscreens by pharmaceutical companies was based upon research

   This doesn't offer any difference between Then and Now. The fact that sunscreens were developed by medical companies and doctors doesn't give strong evidence that sunscreens work against skin cancer (maybe they were designed only to protect against sunburn).

   2%
4. D

   Opposite5% picked this

   People who know that they are especially susceptible to skin cancer are generally disinclined to spend a large amount

   If we had an answer that said, "Increasingly, people who are susceptible to skin cancer are inclined to spend a large amount of time in the sun", then that could have provided an alternate explanation for why the incidence of skin cancer is going up (so that we wouldn't have to think that sunscreens were ineffective).

   5%
5. E

   Opposite25% picked this

   Those who use sunscreens most regularly are people who believe themselves to be most susceptible

   If an answer said, "Increasingly, over the past 25 years, the people who are most susceptible to skin cancer are the ones least likely to use sunscreen", that could have given us an alternate way to explain why skin cancer was going up (without having to blame sunscreen for being ineffective)

   25%