Critical Reasoning

State X recently decided to cut state funding for the public library system in County X. To help counteract this cut in funding, the county library system has increased library late fees from $.10 per day to $.12 per day. Since the fee increase, library administrators have seen no decline in the number of overdue books. The director of the county library system concludes that the fee hike has helped to counteract the cut in state funding.

Which of the following statements, if true, most strengthens the director's claim?

A] Since the fee increase, library administrators have noted a significant decrease in the number of books borrowed each day.

B] The library system incurred minor costs to make its visitors aware of the late fee increase.

C] Since the fee increase, there has been no significant change in the average number of days that books are overdue before they are returned.

D] The library system in County X tracks its books through a very advanced database system, allowing library administrators to have access to very accurate statistics on the number of overdue books at any given time.

E] Since the reduction in state funding, the library system in County X has eliminated 10% of its staff, creating a 2% reduction in costs.

[spoiler]
The Correct answer is C.[/spoiler]

But there is one thing to be noted here is that, just observe carefully and see what the option A is doing to the passage. Many people will say that the option A is actually weakening the conclusion. I would say that the option A is not doing anything to the conclusion. The reason is that the option A is simply negating the premise and not doing anything to the conclusion.

The premise clearly states that 'Since the fee increase, library administrators have seen no decline in the number of overdue books.' And the option A says that there is a significant decrease in the number of books borrowed per day.

Number of overdue books = number of books borrowed

Therefore the option A is simply negating the premise by using a different language. You cannot do that. You have to negate the conclusion and not negate the premise. In this question many
students might have chosen A as the answer, but clearly A is not the answer choice.

I hope this helps to many of you...