With the invention and first commercial flights of the airplane

Question

With the invention and first commercial flights of the airplane, the revenues of railway companies specializing in cargo transport were predicted to decrease dramatically because companies that started transporting goods by air averaged significantly less use of railway transportation than companies that did not transport their goods by air. However, this alone was not sufficient to prove that railway companies should have expected a significant decrease in revenues, because___________

A
some companies at that time could not afford air transport.

B
in some cases, companies transporting goods by air still used rail for larger products, because most trains can carry significantly more weight than planes.

C
before commercial flights came into service, most companies that started to use them had been transporting their goods by water and rarely used railway transportation.

D
even though companies using air transport averaged less use than other companies, some individual companies still transported most of their goods by train.

E
some companies used air transport only for urgent shipments and other means of transportation for other shipments.

AndrewN · Accepted Answer

Hello,  tanto64 . I would be happy to offer my thoughts in an effort to assist you and the larger community. The fill-in-the-blank CR question type is typically more streamlined than other types, since the blank tends to be either the conclusion or a premise supporting the conclusion. It almost feels like an RC question instead. In this passage, if we break it down line by line, all two of them, we can get to the pith of the matter.

Sentence 1, long-winded though it may be, tells us that  railway companies specializing in cargo transport  were expected to take a financial hit once  commercial flights  became viable. We are also given a specific reason to back up this expectation: companies that started using the air service  averaged significantly less use of railway transportation . But wait, would  that  not be expected, namely that some companies would switch over from using railway companies to commercial flights? The comparison furthers my own point, telling us that other companies  did not transport their goods by air . This opens the door to these latter companies utilizing railway transport.

Sentence 2 presents a statement of fact. The information from sentence 1  was not sufficient to prove that railway companies should have expected a  significant  decrease in revenues  (my  italics ). We need to provide the reason after  because .

Keep in mind, we need to outline why railway companies might not have experienced a sharp decline in revenues with the introduction of commercial flights, so we have to center our reasoning on  revenues .

The old  some  trap. The problem with such an answer, as reasonable as it may seem--if some companies could not afford air transport, then perhaps they used the railways--is that  some  is completely unqualified. It could mean just two companies out of, say, five hundred, and if those other four hundred ninety-eight companies  could  afford air transport and chose to use it, then our blank would not be filled in satisfactorily.

Same word, different context. Again, this choice can sound reasonable. If companies that were  transporting goods by air still used rail for larger products , then perhaps this heavy-cargo railway usage could have staved off precipitous declines in revenue for the railway companies. However, we have no information on how many such  cases  there were, nor do we know anything about how frequently such companies were shipping extra-heavy cargo.

This alternative explanation makes complete sense. The majority of the companies that switched to using commercial flights for transporting cargo had  rarely used railway transportation  anyway. With this new knowledge, we understand why the revenues of the railway companies might not have been as negatively impacted as predicted. The railways were not losing a lot of clients to commercial flights for cargo transportation.

Again, this unqualified  some  could represent as few as two  individual companies , and the logic behind the prediction would hold.

This one stands out even among the poorer choices. Not only do we get the same problematic  some , but we also get a vague  other means of transportation , which is  not  the same as saying that such companies used railway transportation in particular for their cargo. They could have used semi-trucks, for one, or, less probably, animals such as ponies. We simply have no way of pinning down any information in this answer choice that would help us.

The takeaway here is to  watch out for vague or unqualified information . The word  some  in particular is one of the most common offenders in this regard. I hope that helps with your query. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

CareerGeek · Answer

We have to say that the transport by trains will decrease irrespective of the addition of cargo transport by airplanes.

A
some companies at that time could not afford air transport. —> Irrelevant

B
in some cases, companies transporting goods by air still used rail for larger products, because most trains can carry significantly more weight than planes. —> Does not add any support

C
before commercial flights came into service, most companies that started to use them had been transporting their goods by water and rarely used railway transportation. —> Answer

D
even though companies using air transport averaged less use than other companies, some individual companies still transported most of their goods by train. —> Does not support the conclusion

E
some companies used air transport only for urgent shipments and other means of transportation for other shipments. —> Irrelevant

Option C

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LoneSurvivor · Answer

We have to find a reason why there wont be any decrease in revenue in the railway although many companies are using commercial Air. Now option C gives us a reason that even though before the introduction of Commercial Air, the companies were using Water travel so there wont be any significant decrease in Revenue .

So Correct ans C.

So Correct ans C.

tanto64 · Answer

Would be greatly appreciated if someone can help on this difficult question. Thanks!

Harry8014 · Answer

Main Point of Argument :

Because there is an introduction of Air Cargo facility, rail cargo revenues shall decline "drastically" and gave supporting explanation: "companies that started transporting goods by air averaged significantly less use of railway transportation than companies that did not transport their goods by air"

Here we need an additional info that states that the companies who switched to Air transport were not the ones who were primary users of rail transport - Hence Ans C

VerbalBot · Answer

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With the invention and first commercial flights of the airplane

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