The labor department program to improve car industry efficiency claims to have raised productivity by over 30% in the last four years. If these figures are accurate, this is a huge success. Senator Cunliff, a distinguished mathematician and a overall man of eminent brilliance, maintains, however, that the program could not possibly
have been successful. Clearly, therefore, the figures cited in the report cannot be accurate.
The argument above exhibits an erroneous pattern of reasoning most similar to that exhibited by which one of the following?
A. Albert's father claims that Albert does not know where the spare car keys are hidden. Yesterday however, Albert reported that he had discovered the spare car keys in the garage toolbox, so his father's claim cannot be true.
B. Gloria's drama teacher claims that her policy is to give each student the opportunity to act in at least one play during the year but, since Gloria, who attended every class, reports that she was not given such an opportunity the teacher's claim cannot be true.
C. Amos claims that he can hold his breath under water for a full hour. Dr. Treviso, a cardiopulmonary specialist, has stated that humans are physiologically incapable of holding their breath for even half that long; so Amos' claim cannot be true.
D. Evelyn reports that she got home before midnight. Robert, who always knows the time, insists that she did
not. If Robert is right, Evelyn could not possibly have listened to the late news; since she admits not having
listened to the late news, her report cannot be true.
E. Moira, after observing the finish of the 60-kilometer bicycle race, reports that Lee won with Adams a distant third. Lomas, a bicycle engineering expert, insists, however, that Lee could not have won a race in which Adams competed; so Moira's report cannot be true.
For this question, my choice was C, but OA is E.OA: (E) Reason: This argument uses the ‘appeal to authority’ fallacy. This is when someone’s credentials automatically establish something as fact and negate any opposing arguments. (A), (B), and (D) do not use appeals to authority. The two choices that improperly use an appeal are (C) and (E). (E) is better because it more closely resembles the passage because it attempts to use the information to negate an argument already made
I still find C a better choice because it is more closer to the actual argument. Why ? Because in the actual argument the person who makes the claim is also involved in the action itself, as in C. But in E the person making the claim is only a third person who has no role in the event itself.
IMHO, C. Do you agree ? If not, then why ?
