During the past year, Pro-Tect Insurance Company's total pay

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During the past year, Pro-Tect Insurance Company's total payout on car-theft claims has been larger than the
company can afford to sustain. Pro-Tect cannot reduce the number of car-theft policies it carries, so
it cannot protect itself against continued large payouts that way.
Therefore, Pro-Tect has decided to
offer a discount to holders of car-theft policies whose cars have antitheft devices. Many policyholders will
respond to the discount by installing such devices, since the amount of the discount will within two years
typically more than cover the cost of installation. Thus, because cars with antitheft devices are rarely
stolen, Pro-Tect's plan is likely to reduce its annual payouts.


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

A. The first and the second are both evidence offered by the argument as support for its main conclusion.
B. The first presents a problem a response to which the argument assesses; the second is the judgment reached
by that assessment.
C. The first is the position the argument seeks to establish; the second is a judgment the argument uses to
support that position.
D. The first is a development that the argument seeks to explain; the second is a prediction the argument makes
in support of the explanation it offers.
E. The first presents a development whose likely outcome is at issue in the argument; the second is a judgment
the argument uses in support of its conclusion about that outcome.

OA is B
Last edited by rakeshd347 on Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by vinay1983 » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:12 am
I GO WITH c
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!

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by theCodeToGMAT » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:14 am
I will go with [spoiler]{B}[/spoiler]
R A H U L

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by mevicks » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:50 am
rakeshd347 wrote:During the past year, Pro-Tect Insurance Company's total payout on car-theft claims has been larger than the company can afford to sustain. Pro-Tect cannot reduce the number of car-theft policies it carries, so it cannot protect itself against continued large payouts that way. Therefore, Pro-Tect has decided to offer a discount to holders of car-theft policies whose cars have antitheft devices. Many policyholders will respond to the discount by installing such devices, since the amount of the discount will within two years typically more than cover the cost of installation. Thus, because cars with antitheft devices are rarely stolen, Pro-Tect's plan is likely to reduce its annual payouts.

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

A. The first and the second are both evidence offered by the argument as support for its main conclusion.
B. The first presents a problem a response to which the argument assesses; the second is the judgment reached by that assessment.
C. The first is the position the argument seeks to establish; the second is a judgment the argument uses to support that position.
D. The first is a development that the argument seeks to explain; the second is a prediction the argument makes in support of the explanation it offers.
E. The first presents a development whose likely outcome is at issue in the argument; the second is a judgment the argument uses in support of its conclusion about that outcome.
Conclusion: Pro-Tect's plan is likely to reduce its annual payouts.

We know that B2 is the conclusion so we can easily narrow down to B, C & E

According to B: B1 is said to be a problem and indeed it is. Strong contender
According to C: B1 is touted as the conclusion while B2 acts as as an additional evidence. Invalid.
According to E: B1 is not an event but a problem.

[spoiler]Answer : B[/spoiler]

Regards,
Vivek