Bunuel wrote:
Prices of a genetically-engineered variety of wheat have recently gone down. Additionally, the agricultural market in general is experiencing a slump this season. Therefore, it would be wise for sellers to stock up on wheat while the prices are down, store it in refrigerated warehouses and sell it during the next season, thereby gaining considerably greater profits than they would if they were to sell the wheat this season.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
A.The larger the size of the refrigerated warehouse, the more expensive it is to maintain to prevent the spoilage of stored products.
B.The prices of some varieties of genetically-engineered crops have gone up this season despite the downturn in the agricultural market.
C.As genetic engineering becomes cheaper, prices of crops across the market are expected to decrease further.
D.Some varieties of wheat can be grown throughout the year, and the sale of such varieties does not depend on seasonal markets.
E.Sellers in the agricultural market have begun expanding their business into related markets such as the logging industry in order to compensate for the downturn
The argument says that since the prices of genetically-engineered wheat have gone down and the agricultural market is slumping this season, sellers should stock up on wheat while it's cheap, store it in refrigerated warehouses and sell it during the next season to make a big profit.
But, answer choice (C) weakens the argument by saying that as genetic engineering becomes cheaper, the prices of all crops are expected to go down further. This means that the sellers won't make as much profit by storing the wheat and selling it later, because the price might be even lower by then. So, it's not as wise to store the wheat as the argument suggests.
In simpler terms, the argument is saying it's a good idea to buy and store wheat because the prices are low now and the market is bad. But answer choice (C) says that all crop prices will go down in the future, so it might not be worth it to store the wheat and wait for the next season to sell it. It might be better to just sell it now before the price drops even more.