The makers of Activite, a natural

Answer choices

1. A

   No Impact2% picked this

   The nutrients in Activite can all be obtained from a sufficiently varied

   The fact that you can separately obtain all the nutrients in Activite doesn't tell us anything about whether that set of nutrients is or isn't effective at promoting energy and alertness.

   2%
2. B

   Unclear Impact2% picked this

   There are less expensive dietary supplements on the market that are just as

   The fact that there are cheaper alternatives that are just as effective as Activite doesn't tell us anything about whether Activite (and these alternatives) are or are not effective. Just because X is as effective as Y doesn't mean that either of them are effective. I can say that "showing off yoyo tricks is just as effective as saying the alphabet backwards, when it comes to convincing a supermodel to give you their digits."

   2%
3. C

   Too Weak31% picked this

   A month is not a sufficient length of time for most dietary supplements to

   This somewhat feels like an overall problem with the plan of sending out a free supply of your dietary supplement. If you're one of the typical dietary supplements, which you need to take for more than a month to see its full effectiveness, then whether or not Activite is effective, people will struggle to see it during the free month. But this is more an objection to Activite, saying, "Yo — does it make sense to do a free month's supply if the effects of your product don't really kick in that soon? Won't people get to the end of the month, not see the effects they were hoping for, and bail?" This isn't an objection to the author's argument. For that, we need a story where Activite isn't effective but it is in the company's interest to offer the free month.

   31%
4. D

   Correct63% picked this

   The makers of Activite charge a handling fee that is considerably more than what it costs them to

   Why this is right

   This weakens the premise (which was an opinion, and thus fair game) by showing that it could be in a company's financial interest to offer a free month's supply of a worthless product. Even if people get to the end of the month and realize, "This product does nothing. I'm not paying for a 2nd month", the makers of Activite will still have profited because they charged recipient's a handling fee that's more than their production cost. i.e. We'll mail you a one-month supply for free (the cost to us is $3). You just need to pay Shipping & Handling costs of $9.99. That would still net the company $7 of profit.

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

   63%
5. E

   Trap1% picked this

   The mere fact that a dietary supplement contains only natural ingredients does not ensure that it has

   Too Weak Out of Scope: harmful side effects Saying "X does not ensure Y' is too weak to usually be correct on Strengthen, Weaken, or Paradox since it only provides at least one data point. It means "there is at least one case in which X happened but Y didn't". But the argument also doesn't care whether Activite does or doesn't have harmful side effects. It only cares about whether or not Activite is effective at promoting energy and mental alertness.

   1%