Interstate highways are the main travel routes for many commercial and

Question

Interstate highways are the main travel routes for many commercial and private travelers. These highways include many signs that must be repaired by dedicated repair crews. Without this maintenance, the highway signs would soon become dangerous and eventually become unusable. Therefore, the government must continue to employ these dedicated repair crews.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion above?

A. These sign-repair crews are more expensive than the repair crews that maintain the roads.
B. The sign-repair crews occasionally block traffic during the course of their work.
C. Due to developments in technology, new signs can now be made and installed for less than the cost of repairing the old signs.
D. When maintenance by these repair crews is performed regularly, signs last much longer.
E. When highway signs deteriorate, the accident rate increases.

GyanOne · Answer

Clearly (C)

If new signs can be made and installed for less than the cost of repairing the old signs, the people who maintain the old signs are redundant, and should not be employed.

OptimusPrimea1 · Answer

Would you have put B as a contender. B statement would somehow weaken the argument by claiming that its a bad idea to put repair crews on work because it causes traffic jams and hence may be(i repeat may be) dangerous.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Hi Optimus,

We can rule out B because it requires too much speculation. If you have to say "maybe (just maybe)," you should probably find another answer choice. The argument says the unrepaired signs are dangerous, and the repair eliminates the danger. We can't weaken this by introducing something that might possibly under some circumstances be dangerous. Or to add a real-life angle: wouldn't you rather have crews block the road than drive under a sign that was likely to fall on you?

C, on the other hand, shows us an alternative that is clearly preferable to the conclusion. We get new, safer signs, and we don't have to pay as much. There is no speculation required here!

VerbalBot · Answer

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Interstate highways are the main travel routes for many commercial and

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Interstate highways are the main travel routes for many commercial and

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