Question Type:
Weaken EXCEPT
Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: Raising miminum wage in Country X will quickly lead to a decrease in Country X's rate of unemployment.
Evidence: Raising minimum wage will lead to more disposable income for a large segment of the working population. Much of this increased income will be spent on consumer goods.
Intermediate Conclusion: The increase in demand for consumer goods will lead to an increase in the number of factory jobs necessary to meet production.
Answer Anticipation:
Since this is an Except question, we'll have four answers that weaken. That means prephrasing a specific weakener isn't the goal of this step. Instead, I want to identify weak links that multiple wrong answers could exploit. The link between spending on consumer goods and needing more factory jobs seems tenuous. So does the idea that the effects will be felt quickly.
Correct answer:
C
Answer choice analysis:
(A) Weakener. This attacks the weak link. If the price of goods is significantly higher, consumers may not be able to buy more even though they have more money, thereby eliminating the need for more factory jobs.
(B) Weakener. This also attacks the weak link. If the goods are produced outside the country, increased spending on them won't necessitate more jobs in country X.
(C) We're explicitly told that raising the minimum wage will lead to more disposable income for a large segment of the working population. It doesn't matter what subset of the working population is working at minimum wage. So even if factory workers aren't consistently among that subset, the facts of the argument remain the same. This, then, is the correct answer.
(D) Weakener. If the workforce is reduced, unemployment will increase. Also, the amount of extra money earned will be less substantial that the argument originally posited because fewer people will be earning more.
(E) Weakener. If there is a surplus of consumer goods at most factories, increased demand would not quickly translate into increased production.
Takeaway/Pattern:
In a Weaken Except question, expect that the correct answer will have no impact on the argument. Sometimes, that will be because the degree of the answer is too weak, or the scope of the answer is too narrow. "Many" in C is a clue that the degree may be too weak to attack the argument. The right answer may also present information designed to trick you into thinking it contradicts a premise when in fact it is consistent with it.
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