Critical Reasoning

Affirmative action is good business. So asserted the National Association of Manufacturers
while urging retention of an executive order requiring some federal contractors to set
numerical goals for hiring minorities and women. "Diversity in work force participation has
produced new ideas in management, product development, and marketing," the association
claimed.
The association's argument as it is presented in the passage above would be most
strengthened if which of the following were true?
A. The percentage of minority and women workers in business has increased more slowly
than many minority and women's groups would prefer.
B. Those businesses with the highest percentages of minority and women workers are those
that have been the most innovative and profitable.
C. Disposable income has been rising as fast among minorities and women as among the
population as a whole.
D. The biggest growth in sales in the manufacturing sector has come in industries that
market the most innovative products.
E. Recent improvements in management practices have allowed many manufacturers to
experience enormous gains in worker productivity.

OA after some discussion...