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- Mon May 02, 2016 11:02 am
#23736
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (A)
Giselle argues that the government should raise the sales tax on gasoline in order to restrict the public's consumption of petroleum.
Antoine argues that the government should not raise the tax, because that would be unfair. Antoine says that if the government needs money, it should get it from the whole population, not just gasoline users.
Antoine's response misses the point, because he responds to the imagined issue of raising revenue rather than Giselle's suggestion for controlling petroleum consumption. You should focus on that, because you are asked to identify why Antoine's response is ineffective.
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The most annoying aspect of Antoine's argument is that Antoine addresses an imaginary disagreement over revenue-raising methods, when Giselle was merely discussing a method of encouraging people to ration their petroleum usage.
Answer choice (B): Antoine's main flaw is that he is arguing off-topic, so this choice represents at best a peripheral issue. The logical reason that this choice is incorrect is that even though you probably noticed that spreading the tax over all payers would un-focus the tax and limit its effectiveness on restricting gasoline usage, Antoine never indicates that he is arguing for a good method of controlling petroleum consumption. This choice would represent a flaw only if Antoine actually understood the issue, but he does not seem to.
Answer choice (C): You might want to argue that Antoine's argument is inherently worthless because of its reference to fairness. However, it is best for you to focus on the immediate relationship between Giselle's and Antoine's arguments, which is that Antoine is off-topic. Besides, in this case it is quite clear that by "fair" Antoine simply means "unequal."
Answer choice (D): Antoine does not mistakenly assume that Giselle wants a tax only on gasoline, he merely responds specifically to her proposal for a tax on gasoline. You should not assume that Antoine's reply would be irrelevant to his imagined issue if Giselle wanted a tax on other petroleum products as well as on gasoline, because it is unreasonable to assume that relative use of other petroleum products would equalize taxation levels.
Answer choice (E): First, this response does not describe Antoine's flaw respective to a reply to Giselle. Second, it is clearly not implausible to assume that means other than gasoline taxes could more equally distribute a tax. You should not presume, contrary to common knowledge, that gasoline use is more equal across the population than that of other products such as some foods.
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (A)
Giselle argues that the government should raise the sales tax on gasoline in order to restrict the public's consumption of petroleum.
Antoine argues that the government should not raise the tax, because that would be unfair. Antoine says that if the government needs money, it should get it from the whole population, not just gasoline users.
Antoine's response misses the point, because he responds to the imagined issue of raising revenue rather than Giselle's suggestion for controlling petroleum consumption. You should focus on that, because you are asked to identify why Antoine's response is ineffective.
Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The most annoying aspect of Antoine's argument is that Antoine addresses an imaginary disagreement over revenue-raising methods, when Giselle was merely discussing a method of encouraging people to ration their petroleum usage.
Answer choice (B): Antoine's main flaw is that he is arguing off-topic, so this choice represents at best a peripheral issue. The logical reason that this choice is incorrect is that even though you probably noticed that spreading the tax over all payers would un-focus the tax and limit its effectiveness on restricting gasoline usage, Antoine never indicates that he is arguing for a good method of controlling petroleum consumption. This choice would represent a flaw only if Antoine actually understood the issue, but he does not seem to.
Answer choice (C): You might want to argue that Antoine's argument is inherently worthless because of its reference to fairness. However, it is best for you to focus on the immediate relationship between Giselle's and Antoine's arguments, which is that Antoine is off-topic. Besides, in this case it is quite clear that by "fair" Antoine simply means "unequal."
Answer choice (D): Antoine does not mistakenly assume that Giselle wants a tax only on gasoline, he merely responds specifically to her proposal for a tax on gasoline. You should not assume that Antoine's reply would be irrelevant to his imagined issue if Giselle wanted a tax on other petroleum products as well as on gasoline, because it is unreasonable to assume that relative use of other petroleum products would equalize taxation levels.
Answer choice (E): First, this response does not describe Antoine's flaw respective to a reply to Giselle. Second, it is clearly not implausible to assume that means other than gasoline taxes could more equally distribute a tax. You should not presume, contrary to common knowledge, that gasoline use is more equal across the population than that of other products such as some foods.
