Several companies that make herbal

Answer choices

1. A

   Not Ad Hominem1% picked this

   rejects an argument because of its source without evaluating the argument's

   Whenever a Flaw question takes the form of a Rebuttal argument, we immediately look out for the 2 famous flaws that test rebuttals: 1. Ad Hominem (what this answer describes) 2. Unproven vs. Proven False (what this argument did) According to this answer choice, the argument was saying, "we should not listen to these marketer's claims, after all, a marketer wants you to believe that a product will have beneficial effects. (the source is biased)" But the argument was, "these marketer's claims are false, after all, no definitive study has supported them being true".

   1%
2. B

   Correct91% picked this

   concludes that a claim is false merely on the grounds that it has not been

   Why this is right

   This is the Unproven vs. Proven False answer we were looking for. If we're not familiar with our 10 famous flaws, then we simply look at this answer's structrure: concludes X on the grounds that Y and then ask ourselves whether X matches the conclusion and whether Y matches the evidence. Was the conclusion saying a claim is false? Totally. "Thus, these campaigns make false claims (when they say that ginseng counteracts stress)." Was the evidence saying that the claim has not been shown to be true? Yes. "No definitive study has linked ginseng with the relief of stress." Since the parts match up, and since that reasoning move is definitely a sketchy one, we'd be safe to pick this.

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

   91%
3. C

   Not Sampling0% picked this

   draws an inference on the basis of a sample that is likely

   This refers to one of the 10 Famous Flaws, Sampling, which occurs when an author's conclusion generalizes from a sample that might be too small, biased, self-selecting, or unrepresentative. This argument didn't rely on any sample. Its evidence considers all definitive studies and says that none of them have made this link. And the conclusion is saying that a certain claim is false, not making a generalization that what was true in a sample population will be true on a broader scale.

   0%
4. D

   Not an Objection2% picked this

   fails to address the possibility that many people buy herbal teas containing ginseng because they

   Since this answer begins with fails to consider / overlooks the possibility, we can treat it like a Weaken answer choice and ask ourselves whether it would hurt the argument if we said, "many people buy teas with ginseng for the flavor". It would not. The author isn't telling people they shouldn't drink ginseng. He's only saying that ginseng doesn't have the causal effect of counteracting stress.

   2%
5. E

   Not an Objection6% picked this

   fails to address the possibility that some ingredients other than ginseng in the herbal teas containing ginseng counteract

   Since this answer begins with fails to consider / overlooks the possibility, we can treat it like a Weaken answer choice and ask ourselves whether it would hurt the argument if we said, "there's some other ingredient in herbal teas that reduces stress; it's not the ginseng." That would strengthen, not weaken. The author agrees that ginseng does not reduce stress.

   6%