In 1974 the speed limit on highway

Answer choices

1. A

   Opposite Impact3% picked this

   The 1974 fuel shortage cut driving sharply for more than

   This weakens by providing an alternate explanation for the decrease in fatalities. If there was way less driving for more than a year, that itself could cause a decrease in fatalities.

   3%
2. B

   No Impact2% picked this

   There was no decline in the rate of highway fatalities during the twelfth year following the reduction

   The information about the twelfth year post-reduction doesn't impact the argument about the effects of the initial reduction. It deals with a time outside the critical periods presented in the evidence (the first year and the subsequent 10 years). Whether the speed limit change did or didn't make a difference, it would be likely for that difference to level off by twelve years later, once it's become the status quo.

   2%
3. C

   Opposite Impact6% picked this

   Since 1974 automobile manufacturers have been required by law to install lifesaving equipment, such as seat belts,

   This introduces another potential factor for reducing fatalities, so it suggests an alternative explanation for the decline, which would weaken the argument rather than strengthen it.

   6%
4. D

   Correct79% picked this

   The fatality rate in highway accidents involving motorists driving faster than 55 miles per hour is much higher than in highway accidents that do

   Why this is right

   This answer strengthens the argument because it directly supports the causal link between reducing the speed limit and saving lives by showing that accidents at higher speeds result in higher fatalities. Thus, the lower speed limit plausibly contributed to life savings by reducing the incidence of high-speed accidents.

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

   79%
5. E

   Opposite (if anything)10% picked this

   Motorists are more likely to avoid accidents by matching their speed to that of the surrounding highway traffic than by driving

   This suggests that accident avoidance depends more on matching speed than on the speed limit itself, which could undermine the argument that the reduction to 55 mph, specifically, was the key factor in reducing fatalities.

   10%