Critical Reasoning

Many beveragemakers use cork stoppers; but cork stoppers can leak, crumble, or become moldy, so that those beveragemakers must often discard a significant proportion of their inventory of bottled beverages. ColaMaster plastic stoppers, which cannot leak, crumble, or mold, have long been available to beveragemakers, at a price slightly higher than that
of traditional cork stoppers. Cork prices, however, are expected to rise dramatically in the near future. Clearly, therefore, beveragemakers who still use cork but wish to keep production costs from rising will be forced to reconsider plastic stoppers. And since the beverages-buying public's association of plastic stoppers with poor-quality beverages is weakening, there is an excellent chance that the ColaMaster plastic stopper will gain an increased share of the marked for beverages-bottle stoppers.

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

A. The first is a judgment that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument opposes; the second is the main conclusion of the argument.
B. The first is a judgment that has been advanced in support of a position that the argument opposes; the second is a conclusion drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the argument.
C. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides evidence in support of that main conclusion.
D. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a restatement of that main conclusion.
E. The first is a conclusion drawn in order to support the main conclusion of the argument; the second is that main conclusion.

I think I'll go for E on this one. I hope I'm not falling into a trap of some sort, but here's how I see it:
- the word "therefore" before the first bold sentence signals a conclusion of some sort
- the second bold sentence seems to be the thing the argument is leading up to

i'll go with E on this one. Both statements seem to be saying the same thing, but one of them advances the other one. Therefore, I'd pick the one that advances it further as the main conclusion, and the other one supports it

IMO E

first one is a supporting conclusion , the second one is the main conclusion

IMO E

imo C...

vivek.kapoor83 wrote:imo C...

IMO C.. C clearly makes sense

i don't think it's C. if you look at the basics of each bold statement:

first statement: beveragemakers who still use cork but wish to keep production costs from rising will be forced to reconsider plastic stoppers.

summary: costs are going up, so beverage makers might consider cheap plastic ones

--
second statement: there is an excellent chance that the ColaMaster plastic stopper will gain an increased share of the marked for beverages-bottle stoppers.

summary: plastic stopper company will sell more plastic stoppers.

now, if it's C, then the first statement is the conclusion, and the second one supports it. what from the second statement supports the first?

company X will sell more plastic stoppers. therefore, beverage makers will need to reduce costs and reconsider plastic stoppers.

that doesn't make any logical sense. the logic is reversed. now try E

beverage makers will need to reduce costs and reconsider plastic stoppers. therefore company X will sell more plastic stoppers

this IMO makes more sense, and this is why i chose E.

I am going with E.

Can you please post the OA.

I felt it to be C. Please post the OA.
Also, is there any reason for not posting OA? We will have to simply subscribe to the post waiting for OA for every question. Just a thought!

enniguy wrote:I felt it to be C. Please post the OA.
Also, is there any reason for not posting OA? We will have to simply subscribe to the post waiting for OA for every question. Just a thought!

OA is E, reason not to post is to get some discussion rather than IMO's

I'd say C but I'm afraid more because of my intuition than any logic.