Hello
I don't understand how answer choice D weaken the argument that the death rate increased. If cases were not reported, shouldn't the death rate be even higher? this is question 7 under cause and effect lesson about the CXC disease
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Breakdown of the argument: Conclusion) CXC has increased in virulence over the last 5 years Premise) death rate 5 years about was 5%, now its 18%.
D is tricky to see, but it weakens because if mild cases aren't being reported anymore then it might artificially inflate the death rate, making it seem higher than how it is. This example should help see how this is the case. Suppose there's 100 cases of CXC, and 5 cows die. Our death rate is 5/100 or 5%. But now suppose that farmers don't bother reporting the mild cases of CXC. Maybe mild cases accounted for 50 of the 100 cases of CXC. But if they didn't report these ones, now our death rate would look like 5/50 or 10%. So the reported death rate is artificially inflated even though the actual death rate isn't changing. Therefore, D weakens because maybe the virus didn't actually change; it's just that the farmers aren't reporting the severe cases anymore.
