Of the two proposals for solving the traffic problems on Main Street, Chen’s plan is better for the city as a whole, as is clear from the fact that the principal supporter of Ripley’s plan is Smith Stores. Smith Stores, with its highly paid consultants, knows where its own interest lies and, moreover, has supported its own interests in the past, even to the detriment of the city as a whole.

The faulty reasoning in which one of the following is most parallel to that in the argument above?


(A) Surely Centreville should oppose adoption of the regional planning commission’s new plan since it is not in Centreville’s interest, even though it might be in the interest of some towns in the region.

(B) The school board should support the plan for the new high school since this plan was recommended by the well qualified consultants whom the school board hired at great expense.

(C) Of the two budget proposals, the mayor’s is clearly preferable to the city council’s, since the mayor’s budget addresses the needs of the city as a whole, whereas the city council is protecting special interests.

(D) Nomura is clearly a better candidate for college president than Miller, since Nomura has the support of the three deans who best understand the president’s job and with whom the president will have to work most closely.

(E) The planned light‑rail system will clearly serve suburban areas well, since its main opponent is the city government, which has always ignored the needs of the suburbs and sought only to protect the interests of the city.
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