In the past, when there was no

Answer choices

1. A

   Opposite1% picked this

   In the years prior to the introduction of the highway speed limit, many cars could go faster than

   This somewhat helps the author. In order to believe that a 55 mph speed limit is making the roads safer, you have to assume that prior to the speed limit some people were dangerously exceeding 55 mph. If there were no cars that could even go faster than 55 mph, then why would we think that speed limit would change anything? Since this goes the opposite of an objection, it strengthens somewhat?

   1%
2. B

   Out of Scope12% picked this

   Ten years ago, at least 95 percent of all automobile accidents in the area occurred on roads with a speed limit of

   Out of Scope: "areas with a speed limit of under 50 mph" This argument is only concerned with the accident rate of highways, which previously had no speed limit and now has a 55 mph speed limit. Information about other areas of town isn't germane enough to what we're analyzing: why was there a decrease in the highway accident rate?

   12%
3. C

   Too Weak9% picked this

   Although the speed limit on many highways is officially set at 90 kph (55 mph), most people typically drive

   This kind of undermines the author's story that a 55 mph speed limit has slowed people down, lowering the accident rate. The problem is that even if 51% of drivers go over the speed limit 51% of the time, there's still a lot of leftover drivers who may have slowed down and are now obeying the speed limit and causing fewer accidents. The author only needs to explain a 15% reduction, so even if a non-majority proportion of drivers obeys the speed limit now, that could work. Moreover, it could be that a 55 mph speed limit is frequently exceeded, but that drivers have still slowed down. Maybe when there was no speed limit, cars would average around 75 mph, and now that there's a 55 mph speed limit, they've slowed down to an average of 65 mph. That would still enable the author to say that the speed limit made the highways safer.

   9%
4. D

   Correct68% picked this

   Thanks to changes in automobile design in the past ten years, drivers are better able to maintain control of

   Why this is right

   This says, "Something else also changed ten years ago .... cars got easier to control in dangerous situations." This advantage in driving through a dangerous situation could easily be the reason why the accident rate is 15% lower now.

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

   68%
5. E

   Out of Scope: "injuries"10% picked this

   It was not until shortly after the introduction of the highway speed limit that most cars were equipped with features such as seat belts

   This is also a change that is contemporaneous with the speed limit, but it would only have an effect on injuries / fatalities. It doesn't have the means to explain why there are 15% fewer accidents.

   10%