虚心求教

GabrielHong

Vorland’s government is planning a nationwide ban on smoking in restaurants.  The objection that the ban would reduce restaurants’ revenues is ill founded.  Several towns in Vorland enacted restaurant smoking restrictions five years ago.  Since then, the amount the government collects in restaurant meal taxes in those towns has increased 34 percent, on average, but only 26 percent elsewhere in Vorland.  The amount collected in restaurant meal taxes closely reflects restaurants’ revenues.

Which of the following, if true, most undermines the defense of the government’s plan?

A.    When the state first imposed a restaurant meal tax, opponents predicted that restaurants’ revenues would decline as a result, a prediction that proved to be correct in the short term.
B.    The tax on meals in restaurants is higher than the tax on many other goods and services.
C.    Over the last five years, smoking has steadily declined throughout Vorland.
D.    In many of the towns that restrict smoking in restaurants, restaurants can maintain separate dining areas where smoking is permitted.
E.    Over the last five years, government revenues from sales taxes have grown no faster in the towns with restaurant smoking restrictions than in the towns that have no such restrictions.
答案是D
首先答案我想不通。但关键是这道题的问题是most undermines the defense of the government’s plan，这里的defense of the government's plan?虚心向大家请教，谢谢

fengshou

Several towns in Vorland enacted restaurant smoking restrictions five years ago.  Since then, the amount the government collects in restaurant meal taxes in those towns has increased 34 percent, on average, but only 26 percent elsewhere in Vorland.

这就是政府对于前面一句中的objection所做出滴defense。

IvyDC

原文内容包含government的观点+例证

观点：government要在餐厅禁烟，且说禁烟会影响收入是不对的。
例证：Vorland中禁烟的town的餐税收入的增加比没禁烟的药多，餐税收入反应了总收入。

问题：要削弱government，即正确答案的方向是说禁烟会影响收入。

解题：要注意最后那句话“餐税收入反应总收入” 也就是说例子中meal tax的作用就是为了说明revenues，而并不是原文要削弱内容的关键词，所以是无关的。
A.    When the state first imposed a restaurant meal tax, opponents predicted that restaurants’ revenues would decline as a result, a prediction that proved to be correct in the short term.-----无关
B.    The tax on meals in restaurants is higher than the tax on many other goods and services.----无关
C.    Over the last five years, smoking has steadily declined throughout Vorland.----无关
D.    In many of the towns that restrict smoking in restaurants, restaurants can maintain separate dining areas where smoking is permitted.-----禁烟的餐厅也有可以抽烟的地儿，使例证中的条件不成立，从而削弱结论。
E.    Over the last five years, government revenues from sales taxes have grown no faster in the towns with restaurant smoking restrictions than in the towns that have no such restrictions.----无关：这说的是增长速度。

GabrielHong

说的非常清楚，谢谢啊。

克瑞斯

忽略了The objection that the ban would reduce restaurants’ revenues is ill founded.

mudan0411

刚刚做完这道题目，想提供一下我的思路，根据Herl的逻辑推理法，这道题目应属统计枚举举例类型 相关因果
前提： 政府收集了相关数据发现，禁烟town是餐厅meal tax增长34%（直接反应revenue），非禁烟towns增长了26%
结论： ban导致了餐厅收益增长（从而说明ban不会影响餐厅收益）
问削弱
答案D属于CQ1 （相关性不存在） 如果餐厅里还保留这着可以吸烟的区域，说明ban对他们的生意不会造成影响，自然也不会导导致餐厅收益增长。 从而削弱。ABCE都属于无关选项，无关原因上面的楼主说的很清楚