Question Explanation:
Conclusion: For many retail businesses, including car dealerships, location is the most important consideration when attempting to increase sales.
Premise: Wendell's Car Dealership moved from the outskirts of town to a more central location, after which sales increased substantially.
Assumptions: (1) It is not a coincidence that sales increased substantially after Wendell’s moved from the outskirts of town to a more central location.
(2) There’s no other cause. Nothing other than the move to a more central location caused the increase in Wendell’s sales.
(3) X is similar to Y. Other retail businesses are similar to car dealerships, so the importance of location to a car dealership implies the importance of location to other retail businesses.
The question asks for the answer choice that most seriously weakens the argument, indicating that this is a weaken question. The author concludes that for many retail businesses…location is the most important consideration when attempting to increase sales. This conclusion rests on the observation that sales increased substantially after Wendell's Car Dealership moved from the outskirts of town to a more central location. Because the author concludes a causal relationship to two events that coincided, this argument exhibits the causality reasoning pattern. The conclusion also extends to many retail businesses based on the premise relating to Wendell’s Car Dealership, indicating that this argument also employs the analogy reasoning pattern.
The two standard assumptions involved in the causality reasoning pattern are (1) it’s not a coincidence, and (2) there’s no other cause. It’s not a coincidence that sales increased after Wendell’s moved to a more central location, and nothing else but the move is responsible for the increase in sales. The standard assumption involved in the analogy reasoning pattern is that X is similar to Y. Other retail businesses are similar to car dealerships, so the importance of location to a car dealership implies the importance of location to other retail businesses. Because this is a weaken question, the correct answer will attack one of these assumptions. Evaluate the answer choices, looking for an answer that attacks one of the argument’s assumptions.
Choice A: No. This choice strengthens the argument. Among several locations of Rodney’s Cars, the chain has the highest sales within the metropolitan area. This supports the idea that a more central location can lead to increased sales.
Choice B: No. This choice strengthens the argument. Any additional reason that Location is particularly important supports the idea that location is the most important consideration.
Choice C: No. The possibility that employees will have a long commute is out of scope. The argument concerns the effect that location has on sales. The time it takes employees to get to work is irrelevant.
Choice D: Correct. This choice weakens the argument by providing an alternate cause for the increase in sales. If The arrival of…new car models also coincided with the change of location and increase in sales, then this may have been responsible for the substantial increase in Wendell’s sales, rather than Wendell’s move to a more central location.
Choice E: No. The comparison between buying trends and brand loyalty is out of scope. The fact that car sales are affected more by buying trends than by brand loyalty is irrelevant to the argument’s conclusion, that location is the most important consideration when attempting to increase sales.
The correct answer is choice D.