Logical Reasoning

PT124 · S2 · Q19 Renting cars from dealerships is

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Renting cars from dealerships is less expensive than renting cars from national rental firms.

Conclusion

Renting cars from dealerships rather than national firms is generally more worthwhile for locals than tourists.

Evidence

The dealership is cheaper than the national firm for everybody, but for tourists to take advantage of dealership rates, they'd have to know which dealerships offer rentals, and they'd have to pay for taxi rides back and forth from airport to dealership.

Evaluate

If you were trying to object to this, you might say or

So to strengthen the argument, we would try to rule out those objections or present new facts that agree with the Conclusion.

Because the conclusion is comparative, we're also Assuming a Difference when it comes to locals. We have to assume that and .

Goal

Look for "it's hard to determine which dealerships offer rentals", , , or anything else that agrees with the Conclusion.

19.

Each of the following, if true, strengthens the argument EXCEPT:

  1. To encourage future business, many

    Strengthens

    This establishes a difference between locals and tourists. For locals, who might use this dealership more than once (future business), there is free transportation to/from the dealership.

    5% picked this

  2. Tourists renting cars from national

    Strengthens

    This establishes a difference between dealerships and national firms: the argument is assuming that it's easier to find the national firms and cheaper to transport yourself there. This answer provides that latter assumption.

    18% picked this

  3. Travel agents generally are unable

    Strengthens

    This rules out an objection. We might have objected, "So what if tourists have to determine which dealerships offer rentals? Is that hard?" This answer pushes us in the direction of, "Yes, it is kinda hard. Travel agents are usually not able to inform tourists of which dealerships they should contact." (If this question were on a modern test, it would say that The websites of dealerships usually do not indicate whether or not they offer rentals)

    8% picked this

  4. Many local residents know of

    Strengthens

    This establishes one of the assumed differences. The author has to think that the challenge of determining eligible dealerships is easier for a local than for a tourist. This helps to establish that distinction.

    4% picked this

  5. Correct

    For local residents, taxi rides

    Why this is right

    The author was assuming a difference when it came to locals vs. tourists, in terms of how costly it would be for tourists to get to a dealership vs. get to a national rental firm. The author thought, "for tourists (coming from the airport), it's a long taxi ride to a dealership (whereas she assumed it was a shorter ride, if any, to a national firm". Did the author assume a comparison for locals, when it comes to drive time? Well, sure -- if the author thinks that dealership rentals are more worthwhile for locals, she is seemingly assuming that for locals, "it is NOT a longer ride to dealership than to national firm". This answer is phrased in a way that is saying "usually, for locals, the taxi ride to a dealership is AT LEAST AS MUCH money as the taxi ride to a national firm." If they're tied, then a dealership is still probably a better value (since they offer cheaper rentals), but this answer doesn't say the taxi ride is tied. It says "the taxi ride to a dealership usually isn't cheaper!" That seems to undercut one of the potential ways in which it would be more worthwhile for a local than a tourist to rent from a dealership.

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

    65% picked this

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