Many people who want to quit smoking use the nicotine skin patch Nicoband, a prescription medication that delivers nicotine through...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

Source: Mock

Critical Reasoning

Weaken

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Many people who want to quit smoking use the nicotine skin patch Nicoband, a prescription medication that delivers nicotine through the skin. Beginning next month, Nicoband will be sold only as a nonprescription medication, whereas the current leading brand of patch will remain available by prescription only. Since as a nonprescription medication Nicoband will be priced significantly lower than comparable prescription medications, its new nonprescription status should help Nicoband become the leading brand.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument given?

Nicotine skin patches generally cost more to use than do other types of aids that help people to quit smoking.

Many insurance plans reimburse people for part or all of the cost of prescription medications, but few do so for nonprescription medications.

Certain prescription medications should not be taken while a nicotine skin patch is being worn.

People who use the Nicoband skin patch have approximately the same rate of success in quitting smoking as do people who use the leading brand of nicotine skin patch.

There are fewer restrictions on the advertising of nonprescription medications than on the advertising of prescription medications.

Solution

Passage Analysis:

Text from Passage	Analysis
Many people who want to quit smoking use the nicotine skin patch Nicoband, a prescription medication that delivers nicotine through the skin.	What it says: Nicoband is a popular prescription nicotine patch that helps people quit smoking What it does: Sets up the background about what Nicoband is and its current status What it is: Author's factual setup Visualization: Current situation: Nicoband = Prescription medication used by many smokers (let's say 25-30% of patch users)
Beginning next month, Nicoband will be sold only as a nonprescription medication, whereas the current leading brand of patch will remain available by prescription only.	What it says: Nicoband is switching to over-the-counter status while the top competitor stays prescription-only What it does: Introduces a key change that shifts the competitive landscape from the previous setup What it is: Author's factual premise Visualization: Market shift: Nicoband moves from prescription → over-the-counter, while Leading Brand stays prescription-only
Since as a nonprescription medication Nicoband will be priced significantly lower than comparable prescription medications, its new nonprescription status should help Nicoband become the leading brand.	What it says: Lower prices from going over-the-counter will help Nicoband beat the competition What it does: Connects the status change to a prediction, forming the main conclusion based on the price advantage What it is: Author's main conclusion Visualization: Price comparison: Prescription patches = $80, Nicoband (over-the-counter) = $40, leading to Nicoband becoming #1 brand

Argument Flow:

"The argument flows from current facts about Nicoband to a change in status, then to the expected consequences. We start with Nicoband being a popular prescription patch, learn it's switching to over-the-counter while competitors stay prescription-only, and then get the prediction that this change will make it the leading brand."

Main Conclusion:

"Nicoband's new nonprescription status should help it become the leading brand of nicotine patches."

Logical Structure:

"The argument assumes that lower prices from going over-the-counter will be the deciding factor in making Nicoband the market leader. The logic connects: status change → lower prices → market dominance. This creates a weakness opportunity since the argument relies heavily on price being the main factor customers care about."

Prethinking:

Question type:

Weaken - We need to find information that would reduce our belief in the conclusion that Nicoband's nonprescription status will help it become the leading brand

Precision of Claims

The conclusion specifically claims that Nicoband will become THE LEADING BRAND based on its new nonprescription status and lower pricing. We need to attack this causal relationship between going nonprescription/lower price and becoming #1

Strategy

Look for scenarios that break the author's logic chain: nonprescription status → lower price → becoming leading brand. We can weaken this by showing that either the price advantage won't matter as much as expected, or that other factors will prevent Nicoband from becoming #1 despite the price advantage

Answer Choices Explained

Nicotine skin patches generally cost more to use than do other types of aids that help people to quit smoking.

This choice tells us that nicotine patches in general cost more than other smoking cessation aids. However, this doesn't weaken the argument because the argument is specifically comparing Nicoband to other nicotine patches (particularly 'the current leading brand'), not to other types of smoking cessation aids. The relative cost comparison within the patch market is what matters for determining which patch brand will be leading.

Many insurance plans reimburse people for part or all of the cost of prescription medications, but few do so for nonprescription medications.

This choice directly undermines the argument's core assumption about price advantage. The argument claims Nicoband will become the leading brand because it will be 'priced significantly lower.' But if insurance covers prescription medications and not nonprescription ones, then many consumers might actually pay less out-of-pocket for the prescription competitor than for Nicoband. This eliminates the price advantage that the argument relies on, making it much less likely that Nicoband will become the market leader.

Certain prescription medications should not be taken while a nicotine skin patch is being worn.

This choice discusses drug interactions between prescription medications and nicotine patches. However, this affects all nicotine patches equally, not just Nicoband or just prescription patches. Since both Nicoband and its prescription competitors are nicotine patches, this information doesn't give any competitive advantage to either side and therefore doesn't weaken the argument about Nicoband's prospects.

People who use the Nicoband skin patch have approximately the same rate of success in quitting smoking as do people who use the leading brand of nicotine skin patch.

This choice indicates that Nicoband and the leading brand have similar success rates in helping people quit smoking. While this suggests the products are comparable in effectiveness, it doesn't weaken the argument. If anything, knowing they're equally effective supports the idea that price could be the deciding factor, which is exactly what the argument claims will favor Nicoband.

There are fewer restrictions on the advertising of nonprescription medications than on the advertising of prescription medications.

This choice suggests that Nicoband will have more advertising freedom as a nonprescription medication. This actually strengthens rather than weakens the argument, as it provides an additional reason (beyond just price) why Nicoband's nonprescription status might help it become the leading brand.

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