Critical Reasoning

During the past six months, a company in Dunwood has hired more union employees than it can afford to maintain. The company cannot fire union employees, so it cannot protect itself from financial disaster by cutting staff. Therefore, the company has offered to subsidize health club membership for employees who are willing to accept a small reduction in pay. Many employees will respond to this offer by accepting the reduction, since health club membership is often beyond their financial means. Thus, because employees who join health clubs will take fewer sick days than employees who do not join health clubs, the company will ultimately save a significant amount of money.

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

The first and the second are both evidence offered by the argument as support for its main conclusion.


The first presents a problem a response to which the argument assesses; the second is the judgment reached by that assessment.


The first is the position the argument seeks to establish; the second is a judgment the argument uses to support that position.


The first is a development that the argument seeks to explain; the second is a prediction the argument makes in support of the explanation it offers.


The first presents a development whose likely outcome is at issue in the argument; the second is a judgment the argument uses in support of its conclusion about that outcome.