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605-655 (Medium)|   Weaken|      
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Bunuel
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Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the 29 Apr 2024, 02:16
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

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45% (medium)

Question Stats:

71% (02:04) correct 29% (02:17) wrong based on 209 sessions

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­Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the mid 1970s, major train companies in the United States have cut their employees ranks by more than 1000 persons. Thus, although deregulated competition has afforded consumers dramatically lower fares, the economy of the United States has been harmed by the deregulation of the railways.

The argument above would be most seriously weakened if it were true that

(A) a poll of people in the United States shows exceptionally strong support for railroad deregulation

(B) fewer passengers now travel on commercial trains than traveled on them in 1976, with the consequence that fewer employees are needed to operate the airlines than were needed in 1976

(C) trains now run a more restricted regular schedule of routes than they did in 1976, with the consequence that the industry is more highly concentrated and competitive than it was before 1976

(D) several major train companies now enjoy significantly higher profits and levels of employment than they did in the years preceding the Deregulation Acts

(E) smaller carriers have thrived as a result of deregulation and now provide more new jobs than the major train companies have eliminated since 1976


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E
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Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the 29 Apr 2024, 02:27
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Deregulation has been bad for the US economy because deregulation resulted in job loss .
Weakener will show deregulation didn’t affect the US economy.
Option E says smaller business thrived and compensated for the job loss in rail industry

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Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the 29 Apr 2024, 06:25
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E should be the answer.
E says that jobs created > jobs eliminated. Hence deregulation dint harm the economy.

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Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the 29 Apr 2024, 21:10
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Bunuel
­Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the mid 1970s, major train companies in the United States have cut their employees ranks by more than 1000 persons. Thus, although deregulated competition has afforded consumers dramatically lower fares, the economy of the United States has been harmed by the deregulation of the railways.

The argument above would be most seriously weakened if it were true that

(A) a poll of people in the United States shows exceptionally strong support for railroad deregulation

(B) fewer passengers now travel on commercial trains than traveled on them in 1976, with the consequence that fewer employees are needed to operate the airlines than were needed in 1976

(C) trains now run a more restricted regular schedule of routes than they did in 1976, with the consequence that the industry is more highly concentrated and competitive than it was before 1976

(D) several major train companies now enjoy significantly higher profits and levels of employment than they did in the years preceding the Deregulation Acts

(E) smaller carriers have thrived as a result of deregulation and now provide more new jobs than the major train companies have eliminated since 1976


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Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the 05 May 2024, 07:15
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Bunuel
­Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the mid 1970s, major train companies in the United States have cut their employees ranks by more than 1000 persons. Thus, although deregulated competition has afforded consumers dramatically lower fares, the economy of the United States has been harmed by the deregulation of the railways.

The argument above would be most seriously weakened if it were true that

(A) a poll of people in the United States shows exceptionally strong support for railroad deregulation

(B) fewer passengers now travel on commercial trains than traveled on them in 1976, with the consequence that fewer employees are needed to operate the airlines than were needed in 1976

(C) trains now run a more restricted regular schedule of routes than they did in 1976, with the consequence that the industry is more highly concentrated and competitive than it was before 1976

(D) several major train companies now enjoy significantly higher profits and levels of employment than they did in the years preceding the Deregulation Acts

(E) smaller carriers have thrived as a result of deregulation and now provide more new jobs than the major train companies have eliminated since 1976

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Official Explanation:

The only reason advanced by the author to support his statement that the deregulation of the railroad industry has harmed the economy of the United States is that it has resulted in a cut by major train companies of 1000 of their employees.

We have been asked to identify the choice which will weaken this conclusion.

We should therefore look for that choice which implies that the same deregulation of the railroad system has contributed to the creation of more than 1000 jobs in some other sector in the United States.

(E) says that smaller carriers of passengers have thrived as a result of deregulation, and they now provide more new jobs than the major train companies have eliminated since 1976. This, if true, weakens the argument of the author that the deregulation of the railroad industry has harmed the economy of the country. So, (E) is the answer.

(B) looks like a possible answer, but is wrong, because the fact that fewer numbers of passengers now travel on commercial trains may itself be a direct consequence of the deregulation of the railroad system, and this will strengthen, and not weaken, the given argument.

(B) is wrong because, it only says that several of the major train companies in the US have higher levels of employment today than they had before the deregulation, but it does not refute the statement that, when all major train companies are considered together, there has been a net elimination of 1000 jobs.­
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Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the 05 May 2024, 07:15
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Bunuel
­Since the federal government began deregulating railroad ravel in the mid 1970s, major train companies in the United States have cut their employees ranks by more than 1000 persons. Thus, although deregulated competition has afforded consumers dramatically lower fares, the economy of the United States has been harmed by the deregulation of the railways.

The argument above would be most seriously weakened if it were true that

(A) a poll of people in the United States shows exceptionally strong support for railroad deregulation

(B) fewer passengers now travel on commercial trains than traveled on them in 1976, with the consequence that fewer employees are needed to operate the airlines than were needed in 1976

(C) trains now run a more restricted regular schedule of routes than they did in 1976, with the consequence that the industry is more highly concentrated and competitive than it was before 1976

(D) several major train companies now enjoy significantly higher profits and levels of employment than they did in the years preceding the Deregulation Acts

(E) smaller carriers have thrived as a result of deregulation and now provide more new jobs than the major train companies have eliminated since 1976


[textarea]This is a CR Butler Question
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:



The only reason advanced by the author to support his statement that the deregulation of the railroad industry has harmed the economy of the United States is that it has resulted in a cut by major train companies of 1000 of their employees.

We have been asked to identify the choice which will weaken this conclusion.

We should therefore look for that choice which implies that the same deregulation of the railroad system has contributed to the creation of more than 1000 jobs in some other sector in the United States.

(E) says that smaller carriers of passengers have thrived as a result of deregulation, and they now provide more new jobs than the major train companies have eliminated since 1976. This, if true, weakens the argument of the author that the deregulation of the railroad industry has harmed the economy of the country. So, (E) is the answer.

(B) looks like a possible answer, but is wrong, because the fact that fewer numbers of passengers now travel on commercial trains may itself be a direct consequence of the deregulation of the railroad system, and this will strengthen, and not weaken, the given argument.

(B) is wrong because, it only says that several of the major train companies in the US have higher levels of employment today than they had before the deregulation, but it does not refute the statement that, when all major train companies are considered together, there has been a net elimination of 1000 jobs.­
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