Antoine: The alarming fact is that among children aged 19 years and younger, the number taking antipsychotic medicines soared 73 percent in the last four years. That is greater than the increase in the number of adults taking antipsychotic medicines during the same period.

Lucy: But the use of antipsychotic drugs by adults is considered normal at the current rate of 11 adults per 1,000 taking the drugs. In contrast, the number of children on antipsychotic medication last year was 6.6 per 1,000 children.

Lucy’s argument relies on the assumption that ______.
A. normal levels of antipsychotic drug use are rarely exceeded.
B. the percentage of adults taking antipsychotic medication is always higher than the percentage of children on such medication.
C. the use of antipsychotic medication in children is no different from the use of such medications in adults.
D. Antoine is not consciously distorting the statistics he presents.
E. a rapid increase in the number of children taking antipsychotic drugs generates more fear of random violence by adolescents than does knowledge of the absolute number of children on such medications.

Confused between B & C. Correct Answer C

tell us more about what was inadequate about the explanation so we can help explain it in a way that will work for you..

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Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor

Hi - By using the word "but" in Lucy's argument i understand she is going to counter the Antoine's argument but cant understand how Lucy's argument is structured? I understand she is saying 11/1000 adults is normal and after that the word "In contrast" - does this mean the 6.6/1000 is abnormal?

Could you also help me eliminate the other options as well.. please very very confused and worried! :-(

Lucy is contrasting Antoine's claim that this statistic is alarming by pointing out that even with the increased rate among children their usage is still less than that of adults. Thus the statistic is not as alarming as Antoine seems to think..

I'm sorry to hear you're worried about this one. You should try not to be worried about questions; just work on understanding why the right answer is right and why all the wrong answers are wrong. I'll be glad to help you work through your concerns about the wrong answers if you can tell me what didn't make sense to you about the way the solution to the problem dealt with the incorrect answers..

_________________
Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor