The city council should not approve the proposed zoning changes that would allow high-density residential buildings in the historic district. Sylvia Vance, a globally recognized and award-winning classical pianist who has lived in the district for a decade, argues passionately that such zoning changes will inevitably lead to a severe decline in municipal tax revenues.
Which one of the following arguments contains a flaw in reasoning that is most similar to the flaw in the argument above?
- The manufacturing firm must abandon its plans to automate the main assembly line. The firm’s chief medical officer, who has decades of experience treating occupational injuries, insists that the newly proposed robotic systems will fail to achieve the required quarterly production quotas.Answer
- BThe city council should not approve the zoning changes. The municipal director of urban planning, who has spent twenty years studying the economic impacts of high-density housing, warns that the changes will reduce overall tax revenues.
- CThe proposed highway expansion should be rejected. If the project is approved, dozens of historic family farms will be demolished, leaving hardworking families devastated and stripping the community of its beloved heritage.
- DThe university should not construct the new science building. Every individual department within the university is currently operating at a budget surplus, so the university as a whole must have enough surplus funds to operate without the new building.
- EThe governor should not sign the new agricultural bill. Shortly after the previous agricultural bill was signed into law, the state experienced a severe drought, demonstrating that such legislation is detrimental to the environment.
Answer
The correct answer is the option stating that the manufacturing firm must abandon its automation plans because the chief medical officer insists the robotic systems will fail to achieve production quotas.
The stimulus argument relies on an appeal to an inappropriate authority. It uses the opinion of a classical pianist to draw a conclusion about municipal tax revenues, which is an economic issue far outside her field of expertise. The correct answer mirrors this exact structural flaw by using the opinion of a chief medical officer—an expert in health and occupational injuries—to draw a conclusion about achieving production quotas, which is an engineering and operations issue outside their domain.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Appeal Fallacies (Authority, Emotion, Majority)
Alternative Method
Instead of heavily mapping every premise, quickly evaluate the structure of the conclusion and its immediate support in each choice. If an option's conclusion is reached by observing a sequence of events (causal flaw) or by analyzing parts of a whole (composition), you can instantly eliminate it without reading the entire stimulus deeply.
Estimated Time:2m 0s