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Difficulty: MediumGeneral Method of Reasoning

Mayor: To alleviate severe traffic congestion on the downtown expressway, we should implement a peak-hour toll. By financially disincentivizing driving, we will reduce the number of cars on the road and ensure smoother traffic flow.

Critic: Your proposal will fail to achieve its goal. You completely ignore that the vast majority of commuters on this expressway travel from suburbs lacking public transportation or viable alternative routes. Consequently, the toll will not reduce traffic; it will simply impose a new financial burden on essential travel.

The critic responds to the mayor's argument by doing which one of the following?

  1. pointing out a relevant factual circumstance that the mayor overlooked, which undermines the predicted effect of the proposed policyAnswer
  2. B
    disputing the truth of one of the explicitly stated premises used to support the mayor's conclusion
  3. C
    demonstrating that the mayor's argument relies on an ambiguous and shifting interpretation of a key term
  4. D
    attacking an intermediate conclusion of the mayor's argument while leaving the ultimate conclusion unaddressed
  5. E
    arguing that the mayor mistakenly infers a causal relationship from a mere statistical correlation

Answer

The correct answer is the option stating that the critic points out a relevant factual circumstance that the mayor overlooked, which undermines the predicted effect of the proposed policy.
The correct answer perfectly captures the abstract structure of the critic's argument. The critic identifies a 'relevant factual circumstance' (the lack of public transportation and alternative routes for commuters) that the mayor 'overlooked' (the critic explicitly says 'You completely ignore that...'). The critic uses this fact to show why the toll will simply act as a tax rather than a deterrent, effectively 'undermining the predicted effect of the proposed policy'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the structure of the mayor's argument.
The mayor proposes a policy (peak-hour toll) to create a mechanism (financial disincentive) intended to achieve a goal (reduced traffic congestion).
Understanding the original argument is required before analyzing how the critic attacks it.
2
Analyze the nature of the critic's response.
The critic introduces new information—that the affected commuters have no viable alternative routes or public transit options.
Identifying the specific rhetorical move made by the critic isolates their method of reasoning.
3
Translate the specific context into an abstract logical description.
The critic is introducing a previously ignored reality (a relevant factual circumstance) that prevents the proposed mechanism from working as intended (undermines the predicted effect).
Method of reasoning questions require recognizing abstract structural descriptions of specific arguments.

Key Concept

General Method of Reasoning: Identifying Structural Defenses and Attacks
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Topics

General Method of Reasoning

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