Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
A new drug, taken twice daily for one month, is an effective treatment for a certain disease. The drug now most commonly prescribed for the disease occasionally has serious side effects such as seizures; in field tests, the new drug's side effects, though no worse than mild nausea, turned out to be much more frequent. Nevertheless, the new drug is clearly preferable as a treatment, since _____.
A)people who experience nausea are prone to discontinue use of the new drug prematurely
B)It is possible that the drug now most commonly prescribed has side effects that have not yet been attributed to it
C)other drugs for the disease have typically been prescribed only for patients allergic to the most commonly prescribed drug
D)people who have received effective treatment for disease do not generally contract the disease again
E)there is a nonprescription medication that when taken with the new drug prevents the onset of nausea
Source-Exam Pack 2
Please explain your line of reasoning
OA:E
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A new drug, taken twice daily for one month
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We need to fill the blank with something that makes the new drug "preferable as a treatment".
(A) Discontinuing use means prematurely seems to be something that would reduce the effectiveness of a drug. I personally would prefer that people not use drugs, but ok, something that reduces effectiveness does not seem to make a drug preferable.
(B) This is vague. If the drug commonly prescribed did indeed have other side effects, then the new drug might be preferable, but the fact that the commonly prescribed drug may have other effects doesn't do much, and further, for all we know the new drug also has side effects that have not been attributed to it.
(C) While you might be able to stretch this or twist it somehow to make it seem to make the new drug preferable, really there is no clear reason why this makes the new drug preferable. The correct answer to a CR question will be indicated via clear logic.
(D) This could apply to the new drug, the commonly prescribed drug, or any drug that is effective in treating this disease. So it does not make the new drug preferable.
(E) This indicates that there is a way to take the new drug and experience no nausea. The currently commonly prescribed drug has serious side effects and the new drug is effective. The only issue with the new drug that is mentioned is that it causes nausea. So being able to use the new drug without experiencing nausea addresses the only issue mentioned in the prompt and therefore, at least within the scope of what is said in the prompt, makes it preferable.
The correct answer is E.
(A) Discontinuing use means prematurely seems to be something that would reduce the effectiveness of a drug. I personally would prefer that people not use drugs, but ok, something that reduces effectiveness does not seem to make a drug preferable.
(B) This is vague. If the drug commonly prescribed did indeed have other side effects, then the new drug might be preferable, but the fact that the commonly prescribed drug may have other effects doesn't do much, and further, for all we know the new drug also has side effects that have not been attributed to it.
(C) While you might be able to stretch this or twist it somehow to make it seem to make the new drug preferable, really there is no clear reason why this makes the new drug preferable. The correct answer to a CR question will be indicated via clear logic.
(D) This could apply to the new drug, the commonly prescribed drug, or any drug that is effective in treating this disease. So it does not make the new drug preferable.
(E) This indicates that there is a way to take the new drug and experience no nausea. The currently commonly prescribed drug has serious side effects and the new drug is effective. The only issue with the new drug that is mentioned is that it causes nausea. So being able to use the new drug without experiencing nausea addresses the only issue mentioned in the prompt and therefore, at least within the scope of what is said in the prompt, makes it preferable.
The correct answer is E.
Marty Murray
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Perfect Scoring Tutor With Over a Decade of Experience
MartyMurrayCoaching.com
Contact me at [email protected] for a free consultation.
