Critical Reasoning

Orthodox medicine is ineffective at both ends of the spectrum of ailments. At the
more trivial end, orthodox medicine is largely ineffective in treating aches, pains and
allergies, and, at the other extreme, it has yet to produce a cure for serious, lifethreatening
diseases such as advanced cancer and lupus. People turn to alternative medicine when orthodox medicine fails to help them and when it produces side effects that are unacceptable to them. One of the reasons alternative medicines is free of such
side effects is that it does not have any effects at all.

The charge made above against alternative medicine is most seriously weakened
if it is true that
(A) predictions based on orthodox medicine have sometimes failed, as when a
patient has recovered despite the judgment of doctors that an illness is fatal

(B) alternative medicine relies on concepts of the body and of the nature of
healing that differ from those on which orthodox medicine is based

(C) alternative medicine provides hope to those for whom orthodox medicine
offers no cure

(D) a patient's belief in the medical treatment the patient is receiving can release
the body's own chemical painkillers, diminish allergic reactions, and
promote healing

(E) many treatments used for a time by orthodox medicine have later been found
to be totally ineffective

IMO D

Vote for D!!!

OA- D

ofiicial explanation follows :

The charge against alternative medicine is that it has no effects. You might have expected

that the way to weaken that charge would be to find positive effects in such treatments.

And (D), by suggesting that the patient's belief in the treatment can help promote healing,

opens up the possibility that alternative medicine

can assist in the healing process, thus
having an effect.

(A), (E) Showing that orthodox medicine is sometimes ineffective doesn't imply that

alternative medicine is therefore effective. It doesn't even damage the author's credibility,

since the argument clearly

states that orthodox treatment is sometimes ineffective.
(B) Alternative medicine may be based on different concepts than orthodox medicine, but

that doesn't necessarily mean that it works.

(C) Alternative medicine may provide patients with hope, but hope is not a medical effect.

To select this choice, you have to assume that hope somehow aids the healing process, and

that's too big a leap-there's no evidence for it. (At the same time, when you select (C) you

have to find a reason why (D) must be wrong, and that's well-nigh impossible.)

"¢ Weakening an argument doesn't always mean blowing it apart completely. In fact,

extreme-sounding statements (like the author's final sentence in the stimulus) can

often be weakened simply by showing that other possibilities exist.

"¢ There's a big difference between criticizing one side of an argument and supporting

the other side. The old adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" has no logical

value. In this example, we can't shore up the case for alternative medicine by

breaking down the case for orthodox medicine