Truck driver: The gasoline tax is too high and it must be lowered. It has been raised every year for the last five years, while other sales taxes have not. If the government persists in unfairly penalizing truck drivers, our increased operating costs will either hurt consumers or put us out of business.
State official: But your gasoline tax dollars maintain and improve the very roads you depend on. Without those additional revenues, road conditions would deteriorate, costing you and consumers much more in maintenance and repairs.
If the statements made above are true, the best characterization of the logical relationship between the two arguments is that the state official's response
A) points out that the truck driver's proposal will actually worsen the problem it is intended to solve
B)is circular, assuming the truth of its conclusion in order to justify its conclusion
C)points out that the truck driver is selfish because more people are aided by the gasoline tax than are penalized
D)is merely an attempt to excuse the government's policies without providing any justification for those policies
E)points to an inherent contradiction between the cause the truck driver cites and the effects the truck driver thinks will follow from the cause
Why is E wrong?
State official: But your gasoline tax dollars maintain and improve the very roads you depend on. Without those additional revenues, road conditions would deteriorate, costing you and consumers much more in maintenance and repairs.
If the statements made above are true, the best characterization of the logical relationship between the two arguments is that the state official's response
A) points out that the truck driver's proposal will actually worsen the problem it is intended to solve
B)is circular, assuming the truth of its conclusion in order to justify its conclusion
C)points out that the truck driver is selfish because more people are aided by the gasoline tax than are penalized
D)is merely an attempt to excuse the government's policies without providing any justification for those policies
E)points to an inherent contradiction between the cause the truck driver cites and the effects the truck driver thinks will follow from the cause
Why is E wrong?
