The report released by the interior ministry states that within the past 5 years the national landreclamation
program has resulted in a 19 percent
increase in the amount of arable land within the
country. If these figures are accurate, the program has
been a resounding success. Senator Armand, a
distinguished mathematician and a woman of
indisputable brilliance, maintains, however, that the
reclamation program could not possibly have been
successful. Clearly, therefore, the figures cited in the
report cannot be accurate.
The argument above exhibits an erroneous pattern
of reasoning most similar to that exhibited by which
one of the following?
(A) AlbertтАЩs father claims that Albert does not know
where the spare car keys are hidden.
Yesterday, however, Albert reported that he
had discovered the spare car keys in the
garage toolbox, so his fatherтАЩs claim cannot be
true.
(B) GloriaтАЩs drama teacher claims that her policy is
to give each student the opportunity to act in
at least one play during the year but, since
Gloria, who attended every class, reports that
she was not given such an opportunity, the
teacherтАЩs claim cannot be true.
(C) Amos claims that he can hold his breath under
water for a full hour. Dr. Treviso, a
cardiopulmonary specialist, has stated that
humans are physiologically incapable of
holding their breath for even half that long; so
AmosтАЩ claim cannot be true.
(D) Evelyn reports that she got home before
midnight. Robert, who always knows the time,
insists that she did not. If Robert is right,
Evelyn could not possibly have listened to the
late news; since she admits not having listened
to the late news, her report cannot be true.
(E) Moira, after observing the finish of the
60-kilometer bicycle race, reports that Lee won
with Adams a distant third. Lomas, a bicycle
engineering expert, insists, however, that Lee
could not have won a race in which Adams
competed; so MoiraтАЩs report cannot be true.

C or E. An Ad Verecundiam argument.

E seems more preposterous than C, though, so I choose E.

I like your explanation giddi. Silly me stopped reading right after C because I was so convinced there could not have been better
_________________

Best Regards,

Paul

The answer is E.