#3 - A certain strain of bacteria was found in the stomachs

[Robert Carroll]

dorritanqizhao,

Eliminating other causes is a good way to strengthen a causal argument, but I don't see any answer choice that seems to help with that. Answer choice (A) is certainly not doing that, and answer choice (B) is talking about health problems after ingesting the bacteria, which would possibly be eliminating alternative effects of the bacteria, not alternative causes of ulcers.

Robert Carroll

[annabelle.swift]

Hi,

Would B count as "eliminating alternative causes" if it said "the researcher did not develop any other serious health problems in the year before ingesting the bacteria strain"?

I feel like other serious health problems that developed concurrently with or prior to ingesting the bacteria strain could be potential alternative causes for the ulcers.

[Robert Carroll]

annabelle,

It's probably true that this would have been a good answer if it talked about things happening beforehand. Because this is only talking about things happening afterwards, we don't have to worry about that!

Robert Carroll