Sonya: The government of Copeland is raising the cigarette t

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Sonya: The government of Copeland is raising the cigarette tax. Copeland's cigarette prices will still be reasonably low, so cigarette consumption will probably not be affected much. Consequently, government revenue from the tax will increase.

Raoul: True, smoking is unlikely to decrease, because Copeland's cigarette prices will still not be high. They will, however, no longer be the lowest in the region, so we might begin to see substantial illegal sales of smuggled cigarettes in Copeland.

Raoul responds to Sonya's argument by doing which of the following?

A: Questioning the support for Sonya's conclusion by distinguishing carefully between No change and no decrease

B: calling Sonya's conclusion into question by pointing to a possible effect of a certain change.

C: Arguing that Sonya's conclusion would be better supported if Sonya could cite a precedent for what she predicts will happen.

D: showing that a cause that Sonya claims will be producing a certain effect is not the only cause that could produce that effect

E: pointing out that a certain initiative is not bold enough to have the predicts it will have

This is a Gmat PREP Question.
Option B is correct.

B: calling Sonya's conclusion into question by pointing to a possible effect of a certain change.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by OptimusPrep » Wed Jul 29, 2015 7:09 am
I am assuming that you have a problem in understanding the reasoning behind Option B here.

Option B says that Sonya's conclusion is called into question.
That is certainly the case here because if the cigarettes are illegally smuggled in Copeland, then the revenue from tax will not increase.

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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:36 am
richachampion wrote:Sonya: The government of Copeland is raising the cigarette tax. Copeland's cigarette prices will still be reasonably low, so cigarette consumption will probably not be affected much. Consequently, government revenue from the tax will increase.

Raoul: True, smoking is unlikely to decrease, because Copeland's cigarette prices will still not be high. They will, however, no longer be the lowest in the region, so we might begin to see substantial illegal sales of smuggled cigarettes in Copeland.

Raoul responds to Sonya's argument by doing which of the following?

A: Questioning the support for Sonya's conclusion by distinguishing carefully between No change and no decrease

B: calling Sonya's conclusion into question by pointing to a possible effect of a certain change.

C: Arguing that Sonya's conclusion would be better supported if Sonya could cite a precedent for what she predicts will happen.

D: showing that a cause that Sonya claims will be producing a certain effect is not the only cause that could produce that effect

E: pointing out that a certain initiative is not bold enough to have the predicts it will have
When two speakers appear in a CR, they will have opposing conclusions.

Sonya's conclusion:
Government revenue will increase as a result of raising the cigarette tax.
Why?
Because cigarette consumption will probably not be affected much.

Raoul's conclusion:
Government revenue will NOT increase as a result of raising the cigarette tax.
Why?
Because we might begin to see substantial illegal sales of smuggled cigarettes.

How does Raoul weakens Sonya's conclusion?
He suggests an UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCE of the plan to raise the cigarette tax:
Raising the tax will lead to ILLEGAL SALES OF SMUGGLED CIGARETTES.
Only B describes how Raoul proceeds:
Raoul responds to Sonya by pointing to a possible effect (illegal sales of smuggled cigarettes) of a certain change (raising the tax).

The correct answer is B.
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by nikhilgmat31 » Fri Jul 31, 2015 12:14 am
It is rights that Raoul calls Sonya's argument into question & mention another possible consequence of this change in taxes