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655-705 (Hard)|   Weaken|      
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dcummins
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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars 06 Jun 2019, 16:53
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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars sold in the country this year, as many as 60% were white.

Which of the following most weakens the argument?

(A) The color white is easier to maintain and hides scratches really well, unlike other colors such as black.
(B) White has been the most preferred car color of new car buyers in the country for several decades now.
(C) The prices of used cars do not vary on the basis of the color of the cars.
(D) There are more new cars sold in the country than used cars.
(E) The huge depreciation costs on new cars make it very attractive to buy used cars in the country.
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B
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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars 06 Jun 2019, 20:50
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Quote:
Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars sold in the country this year, as many as 60% were white.

Which of the following most weakens the argument?
(A) The color white is easier to maintain and hides scratches really well, unlike other colors such as black.
(B) White has been the most preferred car color of new car buyers in the country for several decades now.
(C) The prices of used cars do not vary on the basis of the color of the cars.
(D) There are more new cars sold in the country than used cars.
(E) The huge depreciation costs on new cars make it very attractive to buy used cars in the country.
Show more

The right answer here is B. The conclusion that we are looking to weaken is that "used car buyers love white".

A - If anything, this helps the idea that used car buyers would go for white. OUT

B - The colour of a used car is not a matter of choice entirely, it is to some extent dependent on the original new cars that people bought. If people mostly have already bought white cars, then it would be expected for most used cars to be white as well. This suggests that it is not "loving the color white" but rather, it is the most commonly available colour. CORRECT

C - If the prices are the same and people "choose" white, it suggests if anything that people prefer white over others. OUT

D - This is irrelevant. It only addresses sample size, but uses comparisons that we have no raw data about either. OUT

E - This just tells us why people buy used cars at all, nothing about the colour. It's therefore irrelevant and OUT

Remember to be clear about the conclusion (people like white for used cars) and the answer will be straightforward to find.

- Matoo
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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars 10 Jun 2019, 12:31
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b is the only relevant option. It attacks the conclusion, proving that it is in fact the buyers of new cars who love the colour white , not the buyers of used cars.
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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars 11 May 2020, 06:40
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B.
For several decades white car is preferred so cars which are being sold second hand are also white.
So it's not the buyers like second hand white car.

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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars 23 Nov 2020, 10:15
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dcummins
Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars sold in the country this year, as many as 60% were white.

Which of the following most weakens the argument?
(A) The color white is easier to maintain and hides scratches really well, unlike other colors such as black.
(B) White has been the most preferred car color of new car buyers in the country for several decades now.
(C) The prices of used cars do not vary on the basis of the color of the cars.
(D) There are more new cars sold in the country than used cars.
(E) The huge depreciation costs on new cars make it very attractive to buy used cars in the country.
Show more

Official Explanation



Answer: B

The argument assumes that all or a majority of these 60% of buyers actually want to buy the white cars. However, what if white is the color in which used cars are most often available for sale? Then the used car buyers won’t really have a choice but to buy whatever color is available, in this case white. Thus, they would have to buy the white cars even if they may not necessarily love the colour white. B provides one such possibility. If most new car buyers prefer to buy white cars then obviously most used cars available for sale will also be white since it is these new cars that eventually end up in used car lots.

(A) Why people love the color white is not our concern in the argument.

(C) If anything, this strengthens the argument by suggesting that lower price is not the reason people prefer to buy white cars.

(D) The number of new or used cars sold in the country is not of any concern to us.

(E) Again, why people prefer to buy used cars is not our concern; why they prefer to buy white cars is.
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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars 18 Aug 2026, 01:39
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MartyMurray KarishmaB

How does the OA work in the case of this scenario:

"Buyers most prefer white for new cars".
In such an instance, consider the following split between new cars sold:
1) White = 20%
2) Black < 20%
3) Grey <20%
4) Red <20%
5) Blue <20%
6) Silver <20%.

Yet, used cars comprise 60%. The above situation satisfies the scenario and still doesn't weaken the argument.

A) offers a completely alternate view; that buyers prefer ease of maintenance and may not necessarily prioritise colour. This defeats the causal link attempting to be established --> White causes people to buy. NOT necessarily, ease of maintenance causes people to buy, of which white may be one colour.

I can't see why A) > B).
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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars 18 Aug 2026, 19:33
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Can the answer be A since options A also talks about the reason for buying a white car compare to cars of other colours
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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars 18 Aug 2026, 22:38
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dcummins
Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars sold in the country this year, as many as 60% were white.

Which of the following most weakens the argument?

(A) The color white is easier to maintain and hides scratches really well, unlike other colors such as black.
(B) White has been the most preferred car color of new car buyers in the country for several decades now.
(C) The prices of used cars do not vary on the basis of the color of the cars.
(D) There are more new cars sold in the country than used cars.
(E) The huge depreciation costs on new cars make it very attractive to buy used cars in the country.
Show more

Axwe7 Mehta17 - Fair Enough. When I read option (A), I thought - could be the answer. Then I read option (B) and I knew that was the answer. So here is why.

Premise: Of all the used cars sold in the country this year, as many as 60% were white.
Conclusion: Buyers of used cars must love the color white.

We need to weaken the conclusion. So we need to give an alternative reason why 60% used cars sold were white. We need to say why it may not be the "love of white" for the used car buyers that is leading to this outcome.

(A) The color white is easier to maintain and hides scratches really well, unlike other colors such as black.

If this is true, it is possible that used white cars are cleaner and look newer and that is the reason people prefer to buy it. May not be the love for color white but may be for the car being more presentable and tidier.
But one could think that that could be the reason why people love the color white. Because it looks cleaner and newer when they buy and eventually when they use. So this option could be thought of as elaborating on "love the color white" too. Let's look at other options.

(B) White has been the most preferred car color of new car buyers in the country for several decades now.

Since white has been the most preferred car color of new buyers, it means white is the color most available for resale too. That could explain why 60% used car buyers buy white - because white is the most available.
So it gives us a solid alternative reason.
Note that we only need to weaken the conclusion, not disprove it beyond doubt.
So the case you mentioned Axwe7 is possible but we don't need to worry about it. We only have to create a doubt and this option does that. It is also possible that 60% of new cars sold are white as per this option and that could explain the figures easily.

The other 3 options are irrelevant since they do not even address the color controversy.

Answer (B)
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Buyers of used cars must love the color white. Of all the used cars 18 Aug 2026, 23:00
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Axwe7
MartyMurray KarishmaB

How does the OA work in the case of this scenario:

"Buyers most prefer white for new cars".
In such an instance, consider the following split between new cars sold:
1) White = 20%
2) Black < 20%
3) Grey <20%
4) Red <20%
5) Blue <20%
6) Silver <20%.

Yet, used cars comprise 60%. The above situation satisfies the scenario and still doesn't weaken the argument.

A) offers a completely alternate view; that buyers prefer ease of maintenance and may not necessarily prioritise colour. This defeats the causal link attempting to be established --> White causes people to buy. NOT necessarily, ease of maintenance causes people to buy, of which white may be one colour.

I can't see why A) > B).
Show more

I think your objection to (B) is fair, but it still does not make (A) a better weakener.

(B) does not prove that 60% of the used-car supply is white. As you point out, “most preferred” could mean only 20%. But it introduces a relevant alternative explanation: white cars may be disproportionately common in the used-car market because they have been especially popular as new cars for decades. That makes the 60% sales figure less reliable as evidence of a special preference among used-car buyers.

(A), by contrast, actually gives buyers a reason to prefer white cars. Whether they prefer white for appearance or because it hides scratches, they are still choosing white because of a characteristic of that color. So (A) tends to support, rather than weaken, the claim that used-car buyers prefer white.

So your criticism shows that (B) is not a perfect explanation of the 60%, but (B) still weakens the inference more than (A).
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