Over the last 25 years, the average

Answer choices

1. A

   No Impact33% picked this

   There has been a significant increase over the last 25 years in the proportion of individuals in households with

   Had the statistic been phrased in terms of household income, rather than individual income, then it may have been relevant how many people live in a household, but in this argument it's irrelevant.

   33%
2. B

   Out of Scope2% picked this

   The number of used cars sold annually is the same as it was

   Out of Scope: quantity of cars sold This is all about average price of new car / average income. We never care about raw totals when we're only dealing with averages or likelihoods.

   2%
3. C

   Strengthens19% picked this

   Allowing for inflation, average individual income has significantly declined over the

   If car prices are going up and income is going down a bunch, then the author's conclusion sounds even more likely to be correct. Car prices would be a bigger percentage of one's income.

   19%
4. D

   Out of Scope: population size8% picked this

   During the last 25 years, annual new-car sales and the population have both increased, but new-car sales have

   Just like (B), we don't care at all about actual total number of cars told. Everything here is expressed in relative, average terms.

   8%
5. E

   Correct39% picked this

   Sales to individuals make up a smaller proportion of all new-car sales than they did

   Why this is right

   This is a hard answer to like, but it's the only thing telling us something about who's buying new cars. If new cars aren't being sold as much to individuals as they used to, then who is buying them? I guess companies / collectives. How would that let us argue that individuals who buy new cars nowadays are spending the same % of their income as ever (or less)? Because this is about the average price paid for a new car, it's blending together what individuals pay for their new cars and what businesses pay for their new cars. Over the past 25 years, a growing % of new car sales are going to businesses. Maybe businesses have more money for their new-car-buying than individuals do, and they go after cars at a higher price point. If businesses are more apt to buy new luxury cars in the $40-50k range whereas individuals are more apt to buy economy cars in the $15-25k range, then as businesses become a bigger slice of the new-car-buying population, the average price paid for a new car will creep more and more towards that $40-50 price point. Thus, the businesses who are buying new fancy cars might be driving up the average price paid for a new car, even though individuals buying a new car are still just looking at that $16k Honda Civic hatchback. We could say, "Author, individuals aren't paying more for new cars than 25 years ago", and he would say, "Oh yeah? Well then how come the avg price paid for a new car has gone up faster than individual incomes have?" and we would say, "Because more and more businesses are buying new cars, and they buy more expensive new cars than individuals do, so they've driven the avg up."

   Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   39%