Self-study
Conclusion High-technology medicine is driving up the nation’s health care costs. ██████ ████████ ██ ████████ ███████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ███ █ █████ █████ ██ ██████████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ███████ ███ █████ ████ ████████ ███████ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ██████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███ ███ ██████████ ████ ██ ████████ ████████ ███ █████████ ███ ████████ ██████ ████████████ ███ ██ ████ ██████████ █████ ███ ███████ ████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ ██████████ █████████ ██ ████████ ████████ █████ ████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ █████ ██ ████████ ████████
Argument Summary
The argument concludes that high-tech medicine is increasing healthcare costs. To support this claim, the argument uses the example of cataract surgery, which has experienced significant technological improvements. The surgery is now more effective and less expensive. These points support the sub-conclusion that technology is responsible for an increase in cataract surgeries, leading to overall higher spending.
7.
Each of the following, if █████ █████ ███████ █ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ ██████████ ███████
a
The overall population ██ ███ ██████ ███ █████████ ████ ████ ██ ███ ███ █████ ████
If the population has increased, it makes sense that cataract surgeries have increased! This is a solid alternative explanation that weakens the author's claim that the increase is due to greater efficacy and lower cost.
b
Any one individual’s ██████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ██ ███████ ████ ██ ███ ███ █████ ████
(B) weakens the author's claim that the increase is due to greater efficacy and lower cost by providing an alternative explanation: people are now more likely to get cataracts, so it's reasonable that there will be more surgeries to remove them.
c
The number of █████ ██████ ███ █████████ ██████ ███ ████ ███ ██████
We know that older people are more likely to get cataracts, so if there are more older people, it makes sense there would be more cataract surgeries. Like (A) and (B), (C) points to population factors to provide an alternative explanation.
d
Today, health insurance ██████ ████████ ███████ ███ ████ ██████ ████ ██ ███ ███ █████ ████
(D) is a bit tricky, but still gives us an alternative explanation for why there are more cataract surgeries. The author claims one reason is the lower cost of the surgery; (D) tells us it's not about the cost of the surgery itself, but the cost to the patient specifically. If there's now better insurance coverage, that suggests it's less about the actual cost, and more about who pays.
e
People who have ███ ████████████ ████████ ███████ ███ ████ ████ ████ █████████ ████████ ██████ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ████████
(E) gives us a reason why people would avoid cataract surgery. This doesn't undermine the argument, because it fails to explain why people are now undergoing more cataract surgeries. That makes (E) our correct non-weakening answer.