Critical Reasoning

Sleep deprivation is, without a doubt, a serious problem in today's high-energy world. Fueled by energy drinks and coffee, people work longer hours than ever before and often end up getting fewer than five hours of sleep per night. Placing legal limitations on the quantities of coffee and energy drinks that stores can sell to a customer would, therefore, dramatically reduce the amount of impaired decision-making brought about by sleep deprivation.

The argument that legal limitations on coffee and energy drink sales would reduce the number of sleep deprivation-induced problems would be most dramatically weakened if which of the following was also true?


(A) Farmers in nineteenth-century America typically got only six hours of sleep per night.

(B) Most energy drinks contain considerably more caffeine, in addition to other stimulants, than a comparable quantity of coffee does.

(C) Many easily accessible substances other than coffee and energy drinks contain stimulants with effects similar to coffee and energy drinks.

(D) The increasing appearance of all-night businesses makes it easy to obtain coffee and energy drinks at any time of the day.

(E) The marketing campaigns of energy drinks typically promote an active and youthful lifestyle, whereas those for coffee typically promote a feeling of settled contemplation.



OA C

Source: Veritas Prep