The number of hospital emergency room

Answer choices

1. A

   Bad Evidence Match1% picked this

   Those who seek medical care because of heroin use usually do so in the later

   This says ER-seeking heroin users are typically late-stage addicts. That doesn't bridge ER visits to overall usage levels — it just describes when users seek care. The argument needs more visits to imply more users (or more use), and this answer doesn't establish that link. Plus it's consistent with a static user population that's just aging into late-stage addiction.

   1%
2. B

   Bad Evidence Match4% picked this

   Many heroin users visit hospital emergency

   If many users visit the ER repeatedly, that's evidence the visit count overstates the user count. The same fixed population of users could generate any number of visits. This answer actually weakens the argument's leap from visits to usage rather than bridging it.

   4%
3. C

   Correct89% picked this

   The number of visits to hospital emergency rooms by heroin users is proportional to the

   Why this is right

   This is the bridge. If the number of ER visits by heroin users is proportional to the incidence of heroin use, then a 25% rise in ER visits guarantees a corresponding rise in heroin use. The argument's leap from visit growth to usage growth is fully licensed by this assumption. That's exactly what a Sufficient Assumption needs to do.

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

   89%
4. D

   Bad Evidence Match0% picked this

   The methods of using heroin have changed since 1980, and the new methods

   Less hazardous methods would generally decrease ER visits per user, which means a constant user population could see fewer visits. To explain a 25% rise in visits despite less hazardous methods, you'd need usage to rise even more — but this answer doesn't establish that. It complicates the visit-to-usage link rather than bridging it.

   0%
5. E

   Bad Evidence Match6% picked this

   Users of heroin identify themselves as such when they come to

   Whether users self-identify at the ER tells us how the ER counts heroin-using patients — a measurement issue. It doesn't bridge the count to overall usage. Even with perfect self-identification, the visit count could still vary independently of total usage (e.g., the same users come more often, or fewer users with more medical complications come more often).

   6%