Self-study
Newspaper editorial: Many pharmaceutical companies develop "me too" drugs, drugs designed to duplicate, more or less, the effect of another company's product that is already on the market. ████ ███████ ██████ ████ ████ ███████████ ███████████ ██ ████████████ █████████ ███ ██ █████████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ██████████ ████████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ █ █████ █████████ ███ ███ █████ ████ █████████ ██████████ ███ ████ █████ ███ ██████ ███████ ██████████
Summarize Argument
The editorial argues that copycat “me too” drugs can benefit consumers. Why? Because their presence sometimes reduces the prices of the drugs they resemble.
Notable Assumptions
The editorial assumes consumers can benefit from the price reduction caused by “me too” drugs entering the market. This means assuming the lower prices are enjoyed by end consumers and that they aren’t accompanied by some disadvantage that outweighs the benefit of lower prices.
19.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ ███████████ ███ ███████████ █████████
a
Some "me too" █████ ████ ███ ██ ██ ████ █████████ ████ ███ █████ ████ ████ ████████ ██ ████████
This is another way “me too” drugs can benefit consumers. It rules out the possibility that all “me too” drugs are less effective than the originals.
b
If "me too" █████ ████ ███████████ ████ █████ █████ ██ █████████ ███ ███ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ██████
This weakens the editorial’s argument because it suggests consumers might benefit in a different way if “me too” drugs were prohibited: from the availability of more innovative drugs.
c
Pharmaceutical companies often ████ ████ █████ ██ █ ███ ████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ████████ █████
This doesn’t prevent “me too” drugs from benefitting consumers as well. Pharmaceutical companies might make more money on “me too” drugs simply because the lower price allows more people to purchase them.
d
If all pharmaceutical █████████ █████████ ███ ████ ██████ █████ ██████████ █████ █████ ██ ██████████
The editorial says “[m]any” pharmaceutical companies, not all of them, produce “me too” drugs. Even if fewer innovative drugs were developed, that would disadvantage consumers, so this would weaken the argument.
e
Some pharmaceutical companies ████ █████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ ██████████ █████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ █████ █████████ ██ ███ ████ ██████
This disadvantages some pharmaceutical companies, but it doesn’t necessarily benefit consumers. It’s not stated whether losses by the companies that develop innovative drugs translate to savings by consumers.