Self-paced
Columnist: Conclusion The dangers of drinking are greatly exaggerated in the medical press. ██ ███ ██████ ███████ █████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ ███████ ███ ███████ █████ █████ ███ ██ ███████████ █████ ███████ ███ ██████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ██ ███
Summarize Argument
The columnist concludes that the medical press greatly exaggerates the dangers of drinking alcohol in its frequent reporting on how alcohol can shorten someone's life. How do we know that this is an exaggeration? Because the columnist's grandfather was a lifelong heavy drinker, and yet lived to the age of 95.
The columnist's argument attacks a general claim made by the medical press (that alcohol is dangerous) using a single contradictory example (the columnist's grandfather). However, it's entirely possible that the columnist's grandfather is an outlier; the general claim can still be true even if not every individual case follows that pattern. Using a single specific example to challenge a general claim is a weakness in the argument.
1.
The reasoning in the columnist's ████████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ████████
a
does not address █████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ███████████
Moral objections to alcohol consumption are irrelevant to this argument, which is just about the health effects of alcohol. So it's not a flaw to not consider them.
b
fails to consider ███████ █████ ████ ███████ ███████████ ████ ███ ███████ █████ ████
The argument is about the health effects of alcohol, not about all factors that have negative health effects. Other factors aren't relevant to the argument, so it's not a flaw to not consider them.
c
only addresses the ██████ ██ █ █████ ███ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ████
The specific claim that the columnist argues is exaggerated is that alcohol shortens one's life. Quality-of-life considerations are outside the scope of the argument, so don't need to be addressed.
d
confuses the cause ██ █ ██████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ ██████████
The columnist simply doesn't confuse cause and effect; there's no suggestion that having a shorter life could cause someone to drink more heavily. The argument is just about whether alcohol truly has a certain health effect.
e
relies merely on █████████ ████████ ██ █████████ █ ███████ █████
The argument relies on an anecdote about the columnist's grandfather to challenge the general claim that alcohol can shorten one's life. However, the general claim can still be true even if there are outliers; one long-lived heavy drinker doesn't mean that alcohol isn't generally unhealthy.