If the flowers Drew received today had been sent by someone who knows Drew well, that person would have known that Dr...

shunhe on September 13, 2020

Hi @yckim2180,

Thanks for the question! So let’s take a look at this argument. So if the flowers Drew got were from someone who knew him well, that person would’ve known Drew likes violets more than roses. But Drew got roses. But if the flowers were from some acquaintance/stranger, then that person would’ve sent a signed card. But there was no card. So the florist made the mistake, since Drew should’ve either gotten violets or a card.

Now we’re asked to weaken this argument. What’s the conclusion here? That the florist must’ve made some mistake. So we’re looking for something that makes it more likely that the florist was correct; in other words, something that shows that either someone Drew knew well just got him roses, or someone who didn’t know Drew didn’t send the card or the card got lost or something.

Take a look at (B), which tells us that some people send flowers for a reason other than the desire to please. This would weaken the argument. Maybe someone knew Drew well, and thus knew that Drew liked violets more than roses, but they were trying to annoy Drew or something by sending him roses. So the person wasn’t trying to please Drew anyway, so they just sent roses. Or maybe it was an inside joke. If (B) is true, it’s possible a person who knew Drew sent him roses anyway, and that suggests the florist didn’t make a mistake and weakens the argument, and that’s why it’s the correct answer.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.

Eugene on August 6, 2023

this answer choice is a bit of a stretch lol but i guess I can see it now.

Emil-Kunkin on August 8, 2023

I agree this is a little weird. I think the easiest way for me to understand B is to imagine this is the godfather or goodfellas, and that the flowers were a threat. It's still a bit weird but at least I can justify that to myself.