Premise: When a recent opinion poll presented the plan to province residents, they overwhelmingly favored it.Nalmed Province's plan is to reduce highway congestion by expanding the commuter rail system, so giving more people the option of traveling by train. When a recent opinion poll presented this plan to province residents, they overwhelmingly favored it, even though they knew that enacting the plan would mean substantial tax increases. Consequently, the plan, if enacted, is very likely to succeed, because if people are prepared to pay, they expect to reap the benefit.
The inference made from the poll results is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that
it overlooks the possibility that once the highways are consistently uncongested, some commuters might have no motivation to switch from using their car to using the rail system
the favorable responses collected are entirely consistent with every one of those respondents expecting that it would be others who, by using the rail system, would ease highway congestion
those respondents who opposed the plan might nevertheless become users of the rail system as a result of its expansion
those respondents who opposed the plan might oppose it for reasons other than the tax increase required to carry it out
residents responding to the poll are likely to overestimate the tax increase they themselves will experience if the proposed expansion occurs
Conclusion: The plan to expand the rail system will succeed in reducing highway congestion.
This argument links the poll results to a reduction in highway congestion.
It assumes that the people in the poll will actually USE the rail system and thereby ease highway congestion.
One way to weaken the argument is to attack this assumption.
B: the favorable responses collected are entirely consistent with every one of those respondents expecting that it would be others who, by using the rail system, would ease highway congestion
Here, the people in the poll expect that OTHERS will use the rail system, invalidating the assumption that the PEOPLE IN THE POLL will use the rail system and thereby ease highway congestion.
The correct answer is B.
