PTB.S1.Q7-- generic drugs contain exactly

Darklord

Hi,

The answer for this question is B. I understand why B is right, but I was not able to fully eliminate why D is wrong (I understand why A, C, and E are wrong). The reason why I am still not sure why D is wrong is because D states that, "the highER costs..." thus implying that brand-name drugs are more expensive than generic drugs and thus supporting the conclusion of the passage (that generic drugs costs less but are just as good as brand-name drugs).

Any #help would be appreciated!
Thanks!

Sami

@Darklord said:
Hi,

The answer for this question is B. I understand why B is right, but I was not able to fully eliminate why D is wrong (I understand why A, C, and E are wrong). The reason why I am still not sure why D is wrong is because D states that, "the highER costs..." thus implying that brand-name drugs are more expensive than generic drugs

"D" is saying the higher costs of brand name drugs underwrite(in other words finance or cover) drug companies heavy investment in research.
This means that that brand name drugs cost higher so drugs companies can cover their investment in research for that drug.
But we already know from the stimulus that brand name drugs cost more, how does knowing why they cost more help strengthen they are not more effective than generic or they cost more than generic?

*The LSAT writers often do this, they love to start an answer choice with the right elements of the conclusion, in this case higher costs, but then it will actually talk about something that's nice to know about the topic at hand, like why it costs more, but does not add anything about the exact point made in the conclusion, like that it actually costs more. Remember to strengthen an argument, the answer choice has to add something that will make you more confident in the conclusion than with just the premises already given in the stimulus. Answer choice "D" doesn't help us be more sure than from what we already know in the stimulus about the cost being higher for brand names, it just gives us a reason why that is the case.

I hope this was helpful. I love that you noticed answer choice "D" and despite understanding why "B" is correct didn't want to let "D" go till you understood why its completely wrong.

Darklord

Oh wow, thanks! This really helped!