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Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
61% (01:46) correct
39%
(01:56)
wrong
based on 317
sessions
History
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The airfares on almost all routes in the country have increased considerably in the past six months. In fact, on some routes, the fares have as much as doubled from what they were six months earlier. Since there has been no significant increase in the number of fliers in the country in the last six months, the media has blamed cartelization in the airline industry for this rapid increase in fares.
Which of the following, if true, undermines the argument above?
(A) The media is known to sensationalize events of public importance to gain more readership/viewership.
(B) The airfares on some routes have actually fallen over the past six months.
(C) Two of the six airline companies operating within the country have shut down operations in the last six months.
(D) The price of aviation fuel increased drastically two years back and has remained at that level since then.
(E) Other neighbouring countries have also seen similar rise in air fares but nobody has accused the airline companies in those countries of cartelization.
Which of the following, if true, undermines the argument above?
(A) The media is known to sensationalize events of public importance to gain more readership/viewership.
(B) The airfares on some routes have actually fallen over the past six months.
(C) Two of the six airline companies operating within the country have shut down operations in the last six months.
(D) The price of aviation fuel increased drastically two years back and has remained at that level since then.
(E) Other neighbouring countries have also seen similar rise in air fares but nobody has accused the airline companies in those countries of cartelization.
23 May 2025, 00:19
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Argument: Airfares on almost all routes in the country went up a lot in 6 months, doubling on some routes. Number of fliers didn’t go up much. Media says it’s because of cartelization (airlines teaming up to raise prices).
Assumption: Cartelization is the main reason, not other things like higher costs or fewer airlines.
Weaken: Show another reason for the price rise or that cartelization isn’t likely.
(A) The media is known to sensationalize events of public importance to gain more readership/viewership.
This says the media often exaggerates to get more readers or viewers. It questions the media’s reliability but doesn’t directly say cartelization didn’t happen. It’s about the media’s behavior, not the actual cause of the price rise. Doesn’t weaken the cartelization claim much.
(B) The airfares on some routes have actually fallen over the past six months.
This says some airfares went down, which can occur together with fares increase on “almost all routes.”
(C) Two of the six airline companies operating within the country have shut down operations in the last six months.
This says 2 out of 6 airlines closed down, leaving fewer airlines (4 now). With fewer airlines, there’s less competition, which can naturally raise prices because there are fewer choices for fliers. This gives another reason for the price increase besides cartelization—less competition. It makes cartelization less likely as the main cause, strongly weakening the media’s argument.
(D) The price of aviation fuel increased drastically two years back and has remained at that level since then.
This says fuel prices went up 2 years ago and stayed high. But the airfare increase happened in the last 6 months. If fuel prices didn’t change recently, they can’t explain the recent price rise. This doesn’t give a new reason for the fare increase, so it doesn’t weaken the cartelization claim.
(E) Other neighbouring countries have also seen similar rise in air fares but nobody has accused the airline companies in those countries of cartelization.
This says other countries had airfare increases too, but no one blamed cartelization there. It suggests fare increases might be normal, but it doesn’t give a clear reason for the rise in this country (like costs or competition). It also doesn’t say cartelization didn’t happen here. It’s not a strong reason to doubt the media’s claim.
Option C weakens the argument the most by giving another reason for the fare increase—fewer airlines mean less competition, so prices go up naturally, not because of cartelization.
Answer: C
Assumption: Cartelization is the main reason, not other things like higher costs or fewer airlines.
Weaken: Show another reason for the price rise or that cartelization isn’t likely.
(A) The media is known to sensationalize events of public importance to gain more readership/viewership.
This says the media often exaggerates to get more readers or viewers. It questions the media’s reliability but doesn’t directly say cartelization didn’t happen. It’s about the media’s behavior, not the actual cause of the price rise. Doesn’t weaken the cartelization claim much.
(B) The airfares on some routes have actually fallen over the past six months.
This says some airfares went down, which can occur together with fares increase on “almost all routes.”
(C) Two of the six airline companies operating within the country have shut down operations in the last six months.
This says 2 out of 6 airlines closed down, leaving fewer airlines (4 now). With fewer airlines, there’s less competition, which can naturally raise prices because there are fewer choices for fliers. This gives another reason for the price increase besides cartelization—less competition. It makes cartelization less likely as the main cause, strongly weakening the media’s argument.
(D) The price of aviation fuel increased drastically two years back and has remained at that level since then.
This says fuel prices went up 2 years ago and stayed high. But the airfare increase happened in the last 6 months. If fuel prices didn’t change recently, they can’t explain the recent price rise. This doesn’t give a new reason for the fare increase, so it doesn’t weaken the cartelization claim.
(E) Other neighbouring countries have also seen similar rise in air fares but nobody has accused the airline companies in those countries of cartelization.
This says other countries had airfare increases too, but no one blamed cartelization there. It suggests fare increases might be normal, but it doesn’t give a clear reason for the rise in this country (like costs or competition). It also doesn’t say cartelization didn’t happen here. It’s not a strong reason to doubt the media’s claim.
Option C weakens the argument the most by giving another reason for the fare increase—fewer airlines mean less competition, so prices go up naturally, not because of cartelization.
Answer: C
01 Jun 2025, 09:00
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Official Explanation
Answer: C
The conclusion is that airfares have gone up and the cause, according to the argument, is cartelization by airline companies. To weaken the argument, we need to provide another explanation for the same effect. C does this by suggesting that the reason for increase in airfares could be the fact that supply of seats in airplanes has gone down.
(A) This is a general statement about the media and doesn’t explain why the airfares have gone up.
(B) This may be true but, in general, the airfares have risen according to the argument.
(C) The correct answer.
(D) Since the price of aviation fuel increased two years back, why have the airfares started increasing only in the past six months?
(E) What is true for other neighbouring countries is outside the scope of the argument.
