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