Critical Reasoning

A greater number of cars are sold in Town P than in Town Q. Therefore, the citizens of Town P spend more time driving their cars, per capita, than do the citizens of Town Q.

Each of the following, if true, weakens the conclusion above EXCEPT:

A. Town P has a larger population than Town Q.
B. Most citizens of Town Q work in Town P and buy their cars there.
C. Many residents of Town P purchase second cars that they use only rarely.
D. Most drivers from Town P tend to drive only during the day, and only within the city limits of Town P.
E. The average price of cars sold in Town P is lower than the average price of cars sold in Town Q.

OA after some discussion.

~Binit.

Question:

No. of cars in P > No. of cars in Q => Per capita car usage in P > in Q.

Possible weakners before I went to answer choices

1. Not all cars that are purchased in P are used.
2. Most of people from Q purchase cars in Q.

Going to options:

A. Here the word per capita helps evaluating this one. So, this weakens our arguments.

B. My guess 2 works here.

C. My guess 1 fits here.

D. Here, I think, we can assume that per capita usage is done during day time and within city limits of P. However, there could be a chance that most of cars from Q are driven during night and outside borders of Q. Thus, it weakens too.

E. Here the argument does not mention any relation between demand and supply of cars. Thus, I think that price factor cannot be used to evaluate the argument.

Thus, IMO E.

However, I would love to hear more on D vs E.

Conclusion - per capita car uses at P > q

Eliminate answers which raises doubts on this conclusion.

D - Limits care uses to during day time and within city limits for P. Uses in city Q may be more if it does not have such limits. It weakens so RULED OUT.

E - Price has no correlation with car uses. CORRECT.

Regards
B

binit wrote:A greater number of cars are sold in Town P than in Town Q. Therefore, the citizens of Town P spend more time driving their cars, per capita, than do the citizens of Town Q.

Each of the following, if true, weakens the conclusion above EXCEPT:

The argument links the NUMBER OF CARS SOLD IN P to the NUMBER OF HOURS DRIVEN IN P.
The assumption is that most of the cars SOLD in P are actually DRIVEN in P.
Eliminate the four answer choices that DO weaken the conclusion.

A. Town P has a larger population than Town Q.
Here, P could have more citizens per car -- perhaps 100 citizens for every car -- implying that most of the citizens in P do not own a car.
Thus, the conclusion that citizens in P spend more time driving is weakened.
Eliminate A.

B. Most citizens of Town Q work in Town P and buy their cars there.
Here, many of the cars sold in P belong to citizens in Q, implying that many of the cars sold in P are not driven by P's citizens.
Thus, the conclusion that citizens in P spend more time driving is weakened.
Eliminate B.

C. Many residents of Town P purchase second cars that they use only rarely.
Here, many of the cars sold in P are rarely used.
Thus, the conclusion that citizens in P spend more time driving is weakened.
Eliminate C.

D. Most drivers from Town P tend to drive only during the day, and only within the city limits of Town P.
Here, many of the cars sold in P are used for a limited number of hours (only during the day) to travel limited distances (only within the city limits).
Thus, the conclusion that citizens in P spend more time driving is weakened.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.

E. The average price of cars sold in Town P is lower than the average price of cars sold in Town Q.
The price of the cars sold in P tells us nothing about how often these cars are driven.

A. Town P has a larger population than Town Q.
Here, P has more cars but fewer citizens -- P could have 100 cars but only 2 citizens -- implying that most of the cars in P are rarely on the road.
Thus, the conclusion that citizens in P spend more time driving is weakened.
Eliminate A.

Hi Mitch, town P has more population than town Q - means town P has more citizens, right?
I eliminated this choice, since more citizens minimize the per capita driving (population comes in denominator)

Anyway the OA is E. Thanks everybody.

~Binit.

binit wrote:Hi Mitch, town P has more population than town Q - means town P has more citizens, right?

Good catch.
My post above should have read more citizens per car.
I've edited it accordingly.