Critical Reasoning

Consumers will be hurt by the new lower ceiling on halibut catches. Given the law of supply and demand these restrictions are likely to result in an increase in the price of the fish.
Which one of the following, if assumed, would do most to justify the claim that the price of halibut will increase?
(A) The demand for halibut will not decrease substantially after the new restrictions are imposed.
(B) There is a connection between the supply of halibut and the demand for it.
(C) The lost production of halibut will not be replaced by increased production of other fish.
(D) The demand for other fish will be affected by the new restrictions.
(E) The amount of halibut consumed represents a very small proportion of all fish consumed.

A

he demand for halibut will not decrease substantially after the new restrictions are imposed.


Given the law of supply and demand

Anon wrote:A

he demand for halibut will not decrease substantially after the new restrictions are imposed.


Given the law of supply and demand

The supply decreases while the demand stays the same or rises.

What is the OA?

It took time to understand the question itself

IMO: B

Or i guess i hav not understood the question yet


OA??

NSNguyen wrote:Consumers will be hurt by the new lower ceiling on halibut catches. Given the law of supply and demand these restrictions are likely to result in an increase in the price of the fish.
Which one of the following, if assumed, would do most to justify the claim that the price of halibut will increase?
(A) The demand for halibut will not decrease substantially after the new restrictions are imposed.
(B) There is a connection between the supply of halibut and the demand for it.
(C) The lost production of halibut will not be replaced by increased production of other fish.
(D) The demand for other fish will be affected by the new restrictions.
(E) The amount of halibut consumed represents a very small proportion of all fish consumed.

Often, a good way to strengthen an argument is to eliminate weakeners.

Let's use Kaplan's denial test on (A):

"It is not true that the demand for halibut will not decrease substantially after the new restrictions are imposed."

After eliminating the double negative:

"The demand for halibut WILL decrease substantially after the new restrictions are imposed."

How does this make us feel about the conclusion that price will increase? Well, if demand decreases substantially, it seems unlikely that price will increase as the author predicts. So, the denial of (A) WEAKENS the argument.

Since the denial of (A) is a weakener, the original (A) must be a strengthener: pick (A).

The OA: A

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

NSNguyen wrote:Consumers will be hurt by the new lower ceiling on halibut catches. Given the law of supply and demand these restrictions are likely to result in an increase in the price of the fish.
Which one of the following, if assumed, would do most to justify the claim that the price of halibut will increase?
(A) The demand for halibut will not decrease substantially after the new restrictions are imposed.
(B) There is a connection between the supply of halibut and the demand for it.
(C) The lost production of halibut will not be replaced by increased production of other fish.
(D) The demand for other fish will be affected by the new restrictions.
(E) The amount of halibut consumed represents a very small proportion of all fish consumed.

Often, a good way to strengthen an argument is to eliminate weakeners.

Let's use Kaplan's denial test on (A):

"It is not true that the demand for halibut will not decrease substantially after the new restrictions are imposed."

After eliminating the double negative:

"The demand for halibut WILL decrease substantially after the new restrictions are imposed."

How does this make us feel about the conclusion that price will increase? Well, if demand decreases substantially, it seems unlikely that price will increase as the author predicts. So, the denial of (A) WEAKENS the argument.

Since the denial of (A) is a weakener, the original (A) must be a strengthener: pick (A).

Stuart,
I see that C also fits into the supply demand evidence with the denial test. I thought more in terms that the reference to "fish" price in the evidence can be pertaining to prices of fish in general and that's the reason I went with C. If the "fish" in the evidence is only concerning Halibut, then my reasoning is wrong since it doesn't reallly matter if other types of fish catch increases or not. But how to make sure what this "fish" refers to and this is not a scope shift question? I'd really appreciate your response.

Hi ildude02,
what will happen if the demand for halibu decreases?

NSNguyen wrote:Hi ildude02,
what will happen if the demand for halibu decreases?

Then the reduced supply will not affect the price. So this should be a valid assumption.

But my basic question was, how would we know that we should only restrict ourselves to the halibut fish when the conclusion says "fish" without restricting it to "halibut fish" while the supporting statement with regards to the ceiling talks about "halibut" fish. So both A and C seeem like valid assumtpiosn depends on how we interpret. If someone can explain where I'm wroing with my reasoning, I would really appreciate it.

I agree with Ildude02, theres a clear scope shift in the stem from halibut to "fish" in general.

reachac wrote:I agree with Ildude02, theres a clear scope shift in the stem from halibut to "fish" in general.

The stimulus says:

"Given the law of supply and demand these restrictions are likely to result in an increase in the price of the fish."

The use of the definite article "the" clearly indicates that we're talking about halibut, not all fish in general. There's no scope shift.

Stuart,

In A-- what if supply of fish remains same? Then price will not increase? I think B is better option.

Please advise.

Stuart,
the last post where you helped in identifying "the" participle was really
helpful.
Thanks for the reasoning!

Hi Stuart/Ron/Jose

Can you please specify the valid reason of eliminating B.

Thanks