#7 - Automobile manufacturers who began two decades ago to design passenger

[tetsuya0129]

Hi Powerscore staff,

My gut guided me to pick (A) for this question, but it's frustrated that my brain couldn't get this argument straight. I broke down the argument into:

P1: the lighter a car, the less safe it is.
P2: car makers provide lighter cars for local traffic and heavier ones for long-distance traffic.
P3: most traffics is local.
C: a net saving in fuel was achieved without loss in safety.

I can see how P1 and P2 are tied to the conclusion, but how does P3 support the conclusion?

Thank you very much,
Leon

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Leon,

That third premise you've identified supports the conclusion, because the automobile manufacturers made the lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles with the intent that they would be used for "local transportation." If most traffic is local, and assuming (and this is a big assumption that answer choice A helps us to confirm!) that people actually use lighter/more fuel-efficient vehicles for local travel, then naturally fuel savings would be achieved (the more efficient vehicles would be used most of the time). And you could achieve this fuel savings without a loss in safety, assuming (another big assumption answer choice A helps to confirm!) that people would also use heavier vehicles only for long-distance travel on high-speed highways (and avoid using them for local travel).

Hope this clears things up!

[tetsuya0129]

Thank you, Jeremy!