Critical Reasoning

Hi Friends,

I am having difficulty in answering the following question.
Please help.

Antoine: The alarming fact is that among children aged 19 years and younger, the number taking antipsychotic medicines soared 73 percent in the last four years. That is greater than the increase in the number of adults taking antipsychotic medicines during the same period.
Lucy: But the use of antipsychotic drugs by adults is considered normal at the current rate of 11 adults per 1,000 taking the drugs. In contrast, the number of children on antipsychotic medication last year was 6.6 per 1,000 children. Lucy's argument relies on the assumption that ______.

"¢ normal levels of antipsychotic drug use are rarely exceeded.
"¢ the percentage of adults taking antipsychotic medication is always higher than the percentage of children on such
medication.
"¢ the use of antipsychotic medication in children is no different from the use of such medications in adults.
"¢ Antoine is not consciously distorting the statistics he presents.
"¢ a rapid increase in the number of children taking antipsychotic drugs generates more fear of random violence by
adolescents than does knowledge of the absolute number of children on such medications.

OA after some discussion.

I will try and explain this.

Antoine: The alarming fact is that among children aged 19 years and younger, the number taking antipsychotic medicines soared 73 percent in the last four years. That is greater than the increase in the number of adults taking antipsychotic medicines during the same period.
Lucy: But the use of antipsychotic drugs by adults is considered normal at the current rate of 11 adults per 1,000 taking the drugs. In contrast, the number of children on antipsychotic medication last year was 6.6 per 1,000 children. Lucy's argument relies on the assumption that ______.

The gist of the argument is that the percentage of children taking anti-psychotic drugs has risen but the current value is still less than that of adults taking anti-psychotic drugs. I was not able to clearly zero in on the assumption but.

"¢ normal levels of antipsychotic drug use are rarely exceeded. --> the issue is not about whether normal levels are exceeded. the issue is about numbers/percentage.

"¢ the percentage of adults taking antipsychotic medication is always higher than the percentage of children on such medication. --> this is a stated premise.

"¢ the use of antipsychotic medication in children is no different from the use of such medications in adults.
--> probable because the use of such medication, if different, will create totally different numbers. Say if the children are abusing and the adults are using the drug for medicinal purposes, then the percentages will not matter. This is an underlying assumption.

"¢ Antoine is not consciously distorting the statistics he presents. --> No question of distortion.

"¢ a rapid increase in the number of children taking antipsychotic drugs generates more fear of random violence by adolescents than does knowledge of the absolute number of children on such medications. --> We are not concerned about the effects.

By POE, clearly (C). Looking forward to some good logic.

I will have to differ

IMO D

Lucy's conclusion: Well Lucy hasn't drawn a conclusion, just stated facts.

Plus I can't agree with C because 6.6 / 1000 could be high for children or low for children or normal for children, we don't know how it relates to 11/1000 in adults. Nowhere in the passage does it even remotely touch upon this.

Therefore the only valid assumption is that the data given by Antoine is correct. This is also an assumption

Dean Jones wrote:Hi Friends,

I am having difficulty in answering the following question.
Please help.

Antoine: The alarming fact is that among children aged 19 years and younger, the number taking antipsychotic medicines soared 73 percent in the last four years. That is greater than the increase in the number of adults taking antipsychotic medicines during the same period.
Lucy: But the use of antipsychotic drugs by adults is considered normal at the current rate of 11 adults per 1,000 taking the drugs. In contrast, the number of children on antipsychotic medication last year was 6.6 per 1,000 children. Lucy's argument relies on the assumption that ______.

"¢ normal levels of antipsychotic drug use are rarely exceeded.
"¢ the percentage of adults taking antipsychotic medication is always higher than the percentage of children on such
medication.
"¢ the use of antipsychotic medication in children is no different from the use of such medications in adults.
"¢ Antoine is not consciously distorting the statistics he presents.
"¢ a rapid increase in the number of children taking antipsychotic drugs generates more fear of random violence by
adolescents than does knowledge of the absolute number of children on such medications.

OA after some discussion.

I also think it's C.

My reasoning:

"¢ normal levels of antipsychotic drug use are rarely exceeded. -- Nothing in Lucy's statement indicates that. Her statements are mere stats. No conclusion has been drawn. Even the tone is very neutral (barring the "But" at the start)

"¢ the percentage of adults taking antipsychotic medication is always higher than the percentage of children on such
medication. --- Again, nothing in the statement idicates this.

"¢ the use of antipsychotic medication in children is no different from the use of such medications in adults. --- Lucy first states the data about adult usage. Then continues talking about children, indicating that for them the avg is lower than adults. This direct comparison shows that she is seeing at the same level the usage of these drugs for both the sets. This is an assumption she makes.

"¢ Antoine is not consciously distorting the statistics he presents. --- Lucy talks abt the avg usage per 1000 among adults and children, while Antoine talks about percentage increase being more in case of children compared to adults. These two stats have no connection between each other. So, this cannot be taken as an assumption made by Lucy. Also, her statement starts with "But", which shows if anything she is not exactly in agreement with Antoine's statement. So, this wont be the answer.

"¢ a rapid increase in the number of children taking antipsychotic drugs generates more fear of random violence by
adolescents than does knowledge of the absolute number of children on such medications --- Totally off the field this one!

Dean Jones wrote:Hi Friends,

I am having difficulty in answering the following question.
Please help.

Antoine: The alarming fact is that among children aged 19 years and younger, the number taking antipsychotic medicines soared 73 percent in the last four years. That is greater than the increase in the number of adults taking antipsychotic medicines during the same period.
Lucy: But the use of antipsychotic drugs by adults is considered normal at the current rate of 11 adults per 1,000 taking the drugs. In contrast, the number of children on antipsychotic medication last year was 6.6 per 1,000 children. Lucy's argument relies on the assumption that ______.

"¢ normal levels of antipsychotic drug use are rarely exceeded.
"¢ the percentage of adults taking antipsychotic medication is always higher than the percentage of children on such
medication.
"¢ the use of antipsychotic medication in children is no different from the use of such medications in adults.
"¢ Antoine is not consciously distorting the statistics he presents.
"¢ a rapid increase in the number of children taking antipsychotic drugs generates more fear of random violence by
adolescents than does knowledge of the absolute number of children on such medications.

OA after some discussion.

IMO B
whts OA?

IMO it should be B.

IMO: C

OA is C