- Mon Jul 15, 2024 6:31 pm
#107617
Hi Linabear218!
To start, this is a weaken except question. That means four incorrect answer choices will weaken the argument. The correct answer choice will not weaken the argument. The correct answer choice might strengthen it or might do nothing to the argument.
The conclusion of this stimulus is the final sentence: "So clearly, no one should ever follow any recommendations by these so-called experts." The author reaches this conclusion because the stocks chosen by the mentioned experts did not outperform the market as a whole.
Answer choice (C) states "Performance of the stocks recommended on the television show was measured by stock dividends, whereas the performance of the market as a whole was measured by change in share value." This suggests that there's a problem in the comparison that the author makes. As Adam mentions, (C) attacks the data used in the premises. It's possible that the advice of the experts that appeared on the show should be followed after all, because perhaps they did outperform the market according to one metric but not another.
Answer choice (D) seems to do the opposite of (C). That is, as Rachel notes, it supports the data in the stimulus. It's saying that the measurement of how the stocks performed was accurate. If anything, this strengthens the conclusion by saying that it's based on accurate measurements.
