CAT Critical Reasoning Practice question with Solution 82

We’re asked to find a flaw in a very specific part of the argument: the claim that socialized medicine is technologically superior to private-sector medicine. Notice that the only evidence the author cites for this claim is the low infant mortality rate in countries that use socialized medicine. (A) breaks this connection between lower infant mortality and technological superiority by providing an alternative explanation for the lower infant mortality; namely, that the greater access to medical care in countries with socialized medicine, not technological superiority, might be the reason for those countries’ lower infant mortality rate. If this is the case, then private-sector care may actually be technologically superior, yet still have a higher infant mortality rate than countries with socialized medicine due to the limited access to such care.

(B) is outside the scope; we’re not talking about the socialist economies and their achievements, but about the alleged technological superiority of socialized medicine.

(C) is a strengthener; it supports the claim that the low infant mortality rate connected to socialized medicine indicates technological superiority.

(D) We don’t need a list of countries whose medical systems are “socialized” or “private sector” in order to draw a conclusion about the merits of the different medical systems.

(E) The author doesn’t presuppose the desirability of socialized medical systems. She provides evidence (greater accessibility and low infant mortality) that she believes demonstrates that desirability.