Manufacturer: If our biggest competitor were to go out of business

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong3% picked this

   The manufacturer's specialized suppliers will not

   This asserts as a fact that the manufacturer's specialized suppliers will not be bankrupted. But the argument is conditional — it tells us what would happen if the competitor went out. We do not need a guarantee that suppliers will survive; we need a conditional link between the manufacturer's survival and the suppliers' status. This answer asserts a fact instead of supplying that link.

   3%
2. B

   Reversal / Negation12% picked this

   The manufacturer will stay in business if its biggest competitor stays

   This says: if the competitor stays in business, then the manufacturer will stay in business. That is the converse of what the conclusion needs. The conclusion says the manufacturer's survival requires the competitor's survival, not that the competitor's survival guarantees the manufacturer's. Even if this answer were true, we still wouldn't have established that the competitor's exit dooms the manufacturer.

   12%
3. C

   Reversal / Negation3% picked this

   If the manufacturer goes out of business, its biggest competitor will go

   This reverses the direction. It says if the manufacturer goes out, the competitor goes out. The conclusion says the opposite — the competitor going out hurts the manufacturer. Even if this answer were true, it would not tell us that the manufacturer's survival depends on the competitor's survival.

   3%
4. D

   Reversal / Negation29% picked this

   The manufacturer will stay in business if its specialized suppliers are

   This says: if suppliers are not bankrupted, the manufacturer will stay in business. That is the converse of what the argument needs. The argument needs the suppliers' health to be a requirement for the manufacturer's survival, not a guarantee. With this answer, suppliers being bankrupted would not prevent the manufacturer from staying in business — and so the chain to the conclusion does not close.

   29%
5. E

   Correct53% picked this

   The manufacturer will stay in business only if its specialized suppliers

   Why this is right

   This closes the chain. The premise tells us the competitor going out leads to bankrupted specialized suppliers. This answer adds: the manufacturer can stay in business only if its specialized suppliers are not bankrupted. Combine the two — competitor goes out, suppliers bankrupted, manufacturer cannot stay in business — and you get the conclusion: for the manufacturer to stay in business, the competitor must stay in business. Sufficient assumption complete.

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

   53%