since the deregulation of air travel industry in late 1970,

Question

since the deregulation of air travel industry in late 1970, air fares have been relatively low and the number of passenger-miles flown has been increasing. In recent months however air fares have risen but the number of passenger-miles flown is still going up.

which of the following can most resonably be infer from the statements above

a the cost of air travel does not affect the number of passenger-miles flown

b people are now flying to destinations that they formerly reached by train or by other modes of transportation.

c factors other than low air fares must be contributing to the rise in the number of the passenger-miles flown

d takeovers in the deregulated air travel industry have been responsible for the rise in the air fares

e air fares can climb even higher withouht causing a drop in the number of passenger-miles flow

Guys please explain this with proper explanations. I shall post the OA by tommorow.

Cheers!
JAXTOR

tarek99 · Answer

I pick A as my answer. This is a causal argument trying to express a cause and an effect. The argument starts off saying that the number of passenger-miles flown increased when the air fares have been low. Initially, you would expect that the low air fares must have encouraged more people to fly, but we're still not done with the argument. Notice that the last sentence has the trigger word "however," indicating that a contrast is yet to come. The contrast here is that even though the air fares have gone down, the number of passenger-miles flown has STILL gone up. So that would make us question whether the air fares have any impact at all on the passenger-miles flown.

Now, we can think of so many different reasons that might have caused the increase in passenger-miles flown; however, we don't have any more evidence to tell us that. All we know for sure is that something else must have caused this increase, so that it why I pick option A.

My tip: Treat CR questions as if you were one of the jury in court. Suppose that you have a defendant who is charged for a murder that is usually punished with a 25 years in prison. Because the 25 years in prison is a serious punishment, you REALLY want to make sure that you are punishing the right person. The more serious is the punishment, the more serious the evidence should be provided; otherwise, you may unfairly punish someone who could very well be innocent. You have to be just as careful when dealing with CR questions. Because the argument didn't mention what other factors could be the cause, don't look for other causes, but rather just recognize the fact that at least the air fares can not be the cause, which is option A.

jaxtor · Answer

thankyou for your response...I am afraid to say that this is not the correct OA....

I would appreciate all to comment on this one with best possible explanations.

Thanks a ton tarek99 for adding a new perspective to the question... :-)

Best R-
JAXTOR

Best R- JAXTOR

aknine · Answer

According to me the answer is 'C' because
In 1970, when the air travel charges were low, the no. of passengers traveling was increasing, which is quite understandable. But now, even though the air fares have risen, the no. of passengers is still increasing, so... it means there is some reason, other than low fare prices, which is attracting people to travel by air. This is conveyed best in 'C'.

jaxtor · Answer

my logic runs parallel to aknine's logic although i was hanging bet A and C.......but I picked A for this one.... anyway OA is C.... thankyou for confirming my logic, AKNINE :-D

... Cheers! Best R- JAXTOR

sudeep · Answer

IMO C...

A has the problem that it is making extreme inference:
 the cost of air travel does not affect the number of passenger-miles flown

Fact:
since the deregulation of air travel industry in late 1970, air fares have been relatively low and the number of passenger-miles flown has been increasing.

Clearly implies that cost is one of the reason too(*not only) for the increase in the passenger-miles flown. (Hence not A)

bkumars8 · Answer

I'd go with C too.

since the deregulation of air travel industry in late 1970,

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards