Critical Reasoning

Because the cork stoppers in wine bottles can leak, crumble, or become moldy, winemakers must often discard a significant proportion of their inventory of bottled wine. Bottlemaster, Inc., produces a plastic stopper that cannot leak, crumble, or mold. Bottlemaster's plastic stopper is available to winemakers for a price only slightly higher than that of traditional cork stoppers, and cork prices are expected to rise considerably in the near future. Therefore, Bottlemaster's plastic stopper will increase its share of the market for wine-bottle stoppers.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

A)The first and the second each provide evidence to support the conclusion of the argument.

B)The first presents information that, in light of other information presented, provides evidence to support the conclusion of the argument; the second is that conclusion.

C)The first is evidence that has been used to support a position that the argument opposes; the second is the conclusion of the argument.

D)The first is evidence that has been used to support a position that the argument opposes; the second provides evidence to support the conclusion of the argument.

E)The first is a claim that the argument challenges; the second is a conclusion on which that challenge is based.

Source:GMATPrep EP2

OA:B

Please explain the line of reasoning

NandishSS wrote:Because the cork stoppers in wine bottles can leak, crumble, or become moldy, winemakers must often discard a significant proportion of their inventory of bottled wine. Bottlemaster, Inc., produces a plastic stopper that cannot leak, crumble, or mold. Bottlemaster's plastic stopper is available to winemakers for a price only slightly higher than that of traditional cork stoppers, and cork prices are expected to rise considerably in the near future. Therefore, Bottlemaster's plastic stopper will increase its share of the market for wine-bottle stoppers.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

A)The first and the second each provide evidence to support the conclusion of the argument.

B)The first presents information that, in light of other information presented, provides evidence to support the conclusion of the argument; the second is that conclusion.

C)The first is evidence that has been used to support a position that the argument opposes; the second is the conclusion of the argument.

D)The first is evidence that has been used to support a position that the argument opposes; the second provides evidence to support the conclusion of the argument.

E)The first is a claim that the argument challenges; the second is a conclusion on which that challenge is based.

Source:GMATPrep EP2

OA:B

Please explain the line of reasoning

Premise: Corks casue leakage and spillage, hence wasting wine. Plastic corks can stop that but are currently a bit expensive.
But in the near future, corks will become expensive, hence the plastic ones will be in demand.

BF1: Bottlemaster's plastic stopper is available to winemakers for a price only slightly higher than that of traditional cork stoppers
BF2: Bottlemaster's plastic stopper will increase its share of the market for wine-bottle stoppers

BF2 is clearly the conclusion here. It tells us that the demand for the plastic stopper will increase.
BF1 supports this conclusion by saying that this is a viable conclusion because there is not much difference in the prices. Hence people will not be thinking a lot before switching.

Correct Option: B

Clearly, the second boldface sentence is the conclusion made in the argument. There is nothing to debate about it.
Answering this question would be relatively easy if you focus on the use of "only slightly higher" in the first boldface sentence. "Only slightly higher" adds positively to the conclusion made in the argument. If it were just "higher" or "somewhat higher" then it would have opposed to conclusion. So, bold face statement here, in light of other information provided, supports the claim. Hence, B is the answer.