Ordinary automobile engines can be converted to run on ethanol, which

­Ordinary automobile engines can be converted to run on ethanol, which can be produced from corn and other grains. In the United States, ethanol is currently much more expensive than gasoline, and there is no prospect that the price of ethanol will decrease. Perhaps, though, as petroleum reserves continue to dwindle, the price advantage of gasoline will diminish and eventually disappear, and ethanol will displace gasoline as the primary automobile fuel. However, few people in the United States could afford to use their automobiles as they do now if gasoline were as expensive as ethanol. So, if ethanol does replace gasoline, a major change in transportation habits would be bound to occur in the United States.

In the argument given, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?

A) The first is a judgment that is used to support the main conclusion of the argument; the second states that conclusion.

B) The first is a judgment that is used to support the main conclusion of the argument; the second provides further support for that conclusion.

C) The first is a judgment that was used to support a position against which the argument is directed; the second states the main conclusion of the argument.

D) The first is a judgment that was used to support a position against which the argument is directed; the second is a judgment that is used to    support the main conclusion of the argument.

E) The first states a position against which the argument is directed; the second states the main conclusion of the argument.