The government of Country X recently enacted legislation that

Question

The government of Country X recently enacted legislation that eliminated property tax credits for homeowners who purchase solar water heaters. Due to this change, solar water heater sales in Country X, which have tripled over the past three years, will likely slow drastically within the next two years.

Which of the following statements, if true, most weakens the conclusion reached above?

A. The majority of homeowners in Country X do not own a solar water heater.
B. Home energy prices are not expected to change over the next two years.
C. Solar water heaters are known to have less heating capacity than traditional water heaters.
D. Most consumers in Country X who purchased solar water heaters over the last three years were unaware of the tax credit.
E. Economic research has found that solar water heaters are more expensive to keep up and replace than are traditional water heaters.

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dhart · Answer

Conclusion, Due to elimination of tax credit legislation change, solar water heater sales in Country X, which have tripled over the past three years, will likely slow drastically within the next two years.

A. The majority of homeowners in Country X do not own a solar water heater. Dooes'nt mean that won't have for next two years Incorrect 
B. Home energy prices are not expected to change over the next two years. Energy prices won't change does'nt mean they won't solar heater if its cheaper. Incorrect
C. Solar water heaters are known to have less heating capacity than traditional water heaters.passage does'nt mention about increased solar heater buying due to heating capacity Incorrect

D ) they bought solar heaters being unaware, so may be they prefer solar heaters over electric or gas heaters , hence it islikely that they will conitnue buying solar heaters and so it weakens the conclusion

E. Economic research has found that solar water heaters are more expensive to keep up and replace than are traditional water heaters. Passage doesnt talk about solar heaters being bought high due to its high upkeep and replacement Incorrect
option D looks ok than other options

odionam · Answer

this argument is like cause effect Property tax credit cause sales of solar heater and conclusion is about effect will not happen since cause removed to weaken this as mentioned in option D effect was not due to that cause

Vivek1707 · Answer

A. This only tells us there's room for future growth. It doesn't address whether removing the tax credit will affect sales.
B. Stable energy prices don't tell us whether demand will fall because of the policy change.
C. If anything, this makes solar water heaters less attractive and supports the conclusion.
D. If most buyers didn't even know the tax credit existed, eliminating it is unlikely to have much effect on purchasing decisions. That directly weakens the prediction that sales will slow drastically. Correct
E. Higher maintenance and replacement costs make solar water heaters less appealing, which supports the conclusion rather than weakening it.

There is one counter argument for D i.e though buyers were previously not aware, reducing the property tax credit can still impact sales of solar heaters for subsequent buyers. But given that all other answers are wrong, D is the best of the lot.

officiisnobis · Answer

Was stuck on B but if all  energy prices  are going to remain same and tax credits are removed for solar energy then there will some impact on solar energy.
D is the best choice.

GoodSoap · Answer

I just understood the means of "tax credit".

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

Identify the Question Type:

The words “most weakens the conclusion” in the stem indicate that this is a Weaken question.

Untangle the Stimulus:

The conclusion is in the second sentence: sales of solar heaters will slow in the next two years. The evidence is that solar water heater sales have tripled over the last three years, but a tax credit that was in effect during that time has just been eliminated.

Predict the Answer:

In order for this argument to work, the author has to assume that the tax credit was the main reason for the rising solar water heater sales. Otherwise, the elimination of the credit won’t make any difference. The correct choice will attack this assumption. It will suggest that the tax credit was not the main reason why sales of solar water heaters have been rising.

Evaluate the Choices:

(D) matches the prediction, and is the correct answer. If consumers of the heaters weren’t even aware of the tax credit, then the credit couldn’t have been the reason they bought the heaters.

(A) just suggests there are still potential buyers of solar heaters in County X. The question is whether the elimination of the credit will affect the chances of sales to those buyers. (A) gives no indication, and is therefore irrelevant.

Similarly, even if the price of energy doesn't go up, people may still want to buy solar water heaters, so (B) has no effect on the argument.

(C) and (E) both tend to strengthen the argument. They cite negative features of solar water heaters, which make it even more likely that consumers will buy fewer of them when the tax credit goes away.

TAKEAWAY:  Whenever an author makes the argument that a change in one factor will lead to a changed outcome, she's assuming that the original outcome was actually caused by that factor.

The government of Country X recently enacted legislation that

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­The government of Country X recently enacted legislation that

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The government of Country X recently enacted legislation that