Question:
Soft Drink Manufacturer: Our new children's soft drink, RipeCal, is fortified with calcium. Since calcium is essential for developing healthy bones, drinking RipeCal regularly will help make children healthy.
Consumer Advocate: But RipeCal also contains large amounts of sugar, and regularly consuming large amounts of sugar is unhealthful, especially for children.
In responding to the soft drink manufacturer, the consumer advocate does which of the following?
Soft Drink Manufacturer: Our new children's soft drink, RipeCal, is fortified with calcium. Since calcium is essential for developing healthy bones, drinking RipeCal regularly will help make children healthy.
Consumer Advocate: But RipeCal also contains large amounts of sugar, and regularly consuming large amounts of sugar is unhealthful, especially for children.
In responding to the soft drink manufacturer, the consumer advocate does which of the following?
Consumer Advocate: But RipeCal also contains large amounts of sugar, and regularly consuming large amounts of sugar is unhealthful, especially for children.
In responding to the soft drink manufacturer, the consumer advocate does which of the following?
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In analyzing arguments, distinguish between challenging a premise and challenging a conclusion. The advocate accepts the premise (calcium is good) but introduces a counter-premise (sugar is bad) to attack the final conclusion (the drink is healthy).
Updated On: Oct 1, 2025
- Challenges the manufacturer's claim about the nutritional value of calcium in children's diets
- Argues that the evidence cited by the manufacturer, when properly considered, leads to a conclusion opposite to that reached by the manufacturer.
- Implies that the manufacturer of a product is typically unconcerned with the nutritional value of that product.
- Questions whether a substance that is healthful when eaten in moderation can be unhealthful when eaten in excessive amounts.
- Presents additional facts that call into question the conclusion drawn by the manufacturer.
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Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This is a critical reasoning question that asks you to identify the rhetorical strategy used by the consumer advocate to counter the manufacturer's argument. We need to analyze the structure of both arguments.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Manufacturer's Argument:
\begin{itemize} \item Premise: RipeCal contains calcium. \item Premise: Calcium helps make children healthy. \item Conclusion: Drinking RipeCal will help make children healthy. \end{itemize} Consumer Advocate's Response:
The advocate does not dispute the manufacturer's premises about calcium. Instead, the advocate introduces a new piece of information: RipeCal contains large amounts of sugar, which is unhealthful.
This additional fact about sugar directly challenges the manufacturer's overall conclusion that the drink is healthy. The advocate is arguing that even if the calcium part is beneficial, the negative effect of the sugar outweighs it, thus calling the conclusion into question.
Let's evaluate the options:
\begin{itemize} \item (A) The advocate does not challenge the value of calcium. \item (B) The advocate introduces new evidence (sugar), rather than re-interpreting the manufacturer's evidence (calcium). \item (C) The advocate's response is about the product itself, not the manufacturer's general concerns or motives. \item (D) The advocate's argument is about the presence of an unhealthful substance (sugar), not the excessive consumption of a healthful one. \item (E) This accurately describes the strategy. The advocate presents an "additional fact" (the high sugar content) to challenge the manufacturer's "conclusion" (that RipeCal is a healthy choice). \end{itemize} Step 3: Final Answer:
The consumer advocate's strategy is to introduce an additional, negative fact to undermine the manufacturer's positive conclusion.
This is a critical reasoning question that asks you to identify the rhetorical strategy used by the consumer advocate to counter the manufacturer's argument. We need to analyze the structure of both arguments.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Manufacturer's Argument:
\begin{itemize} \item Premise: RipeCal contains calcium. \item Premise: Calcium helps make children healthy. \item Conclusion: Drinking RipeCal will help make children healthy. \end{itemize} Consumer Advocate's Response:
The advocate does not dispute the manufacturer's premises about calcium. Instead, the advocate introduces a new piece of information: RipeCal contains large amounts of sugar, which is unhealthful.
This additional fact about sugar directly challenges the manufacturer's overall conclusion that the drink is healthy. The advocate is arguing that even if the calcium part is beneficial, the negative effect of the sugar outweighs it, thus calling the conclusion into question.
Let's evaluate the options:
\begin{itemize} \item (A) The advocate does not challenge the value of calcium. \item (B) The advocate introduces new evidence (sugar), rather than re-interpreting the manufacturer's evidence (calcium). \item (C) The advocate's response is about the product itself, not the manufacturer's general concerns or motives. \item (D) The advocate's argument is about the presence of an unhealthful substance (sugar), not the excessive consumption of a healthful one. \item (E) This accurately describes the strategy. The advocate presents an "additional fact" (the high sugar content) to challenge the manufacturer's "conclusion" (that RipeCal is a healthy choice). \end{itemize} Step 3: Final Answer:
The consumer advocate's strategy is to introduce an additional, negative fact to undermine the manufacturer's positive conclusion.
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