Passage Summary: Researchers tracked two groups of sick people for ten years—one group went to support meetings and the other didn't. Since almost everyone in both groups died by the end, the researchers decided the meetings don't help people live longer.

Conclusion: Attending support group meetings does not extend the lifespan of patients with disease T.

Reasoning: In a study of two equal groups, nearly the same number of patients died after ten years regardless of whether they attended support meetings.

Analysis: The argument assumes that because the death toll was the same at the ten-year mark, the timing of those deaths was also the same. To weaken this, we should look for evidence that the support group members lived longer within those ten years. For example, if the non-support group died in year two while the support group died in year nine, the meetings definitely helped them live longer.