Politician: Early in 2009, the government of Laconia tripled

Politician: Early in 2009, the government of Laconia tripled fines for infringement of traffic regulations. Since 2009, the number of serious car accidents in Laconia has decreased by 20 percent. Based on this evidence, it can be concluded that it was the increased fines that brought about the decrease in the number of serious car accidents.

Journalist: However, you must also consider that until 2009, the Laconian police force classified as serious all car accidents in which more than two vehicles were involved; starting in 2009, only accidents that involved more than three vehicles were considered serious.

The journalist attacks the politician’s argument by doing which of the following?

(A)Undermining the validity of the assumption on which the politician’s argument depends.

(B)Presenting additional information that suggests that evidence presented by the politician is not accurate.

(C)Suggesting that the politician uses evidence about few cases to draw a general conclusion.

(D)Presenting information that is more recent than information on which the politician’s argument is built.

(E)Implying that the politician manipulates information about the percent decrease to draw a conclusion about a number decrease.