Q5 - Advances in photocopying technology allow

[skapur777]

Just wondering, what relevance does answer choice (D) have on anything?

And also, is (B) correct because:

Sophisticated counterfeiters could use the special ink and be untraceable as counterfeits to experts and laypeople alike. However, even though microprinting is difficult for laypeople, at least experts can stop them?

It's not a great weakener, is it?

[mcrittell]

Can someone please explain the argument in general. I think I got lost because it's so involved in describing the systems.

[aileenann]

Let's start with analyzing the argument. I'd diagram it as follows:

There exists a technique that would allow anyone to easily detect counterfeit money THEREFORE this technique should be adopted despite the expense.

You are right that much of the argument is fluff - the technical details of each technique aren't likely to matter from an LR standpoint, so I keep them out of my diagrams generally speaking.

Now we're trying to weaken the argument, and there are a few open questions that suggest routes to do it. Is there really such a big problem? Is it worth the expense? Is there any reason to think counterfeiters couldn't find a way to duplicate this fancy new ink?

With those in minds, let's look at the answer choices.

(A) is entirely irrelevant. Who cares about timing? This wasn't in the passage and has nothing to do with whether we should adopt the fancy technique.

(B), on the other hand, is a real zinger! This provides a reason that the technique currently in use is actually better than the new technique because the new technique might make it impossible for even experts to tell fake money from real money whereas the current printing technique at least preserves this distinction. I'd give this a big W and save it.

(C) actually strengthens the argument - the opposite of what we want to do. This says that our currently used technique is going to get even more vulnerable.

(D) doesn't swing one way or the other. This tells us that most counterfeiters are not really experts, but unless we know which technique is harder for non-experts to duplicate this neither supports nor weakens the argument.

(E) also doesn't go one way or the other - it essentially tells us it's difficult to know how much money this problem costs us, but it doesn't say whether the problem is one worth paying a lot to stop or not.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!

[mcrittell]

(I actually got this question right the first time but wanted clarification.) I see that I misunderstood this...and was wondering why counterfeiters would want to adopt a counterfeit currency easily detectable. Haha! Thanks for the sum up!

[aileenann]

Glad this helped! It's always a good idea to look for clarification if there's anything amiss. Getting a practice question right is not enough for success on the LSAT.