The oil analyst states: "if the price of oil falls by half, then the consumer's purchase price for gasoline made from this oil will also fall by half."
Let's diagram:
P: POFH ==> CPGFH not CPGFH ==> not POFH
We are asked to weaken this argument. How do we weaken a Sufficient & Necessary statement? We show the sufficient condition without the necessary condition.
Answer choice (E) does just this: "Refining costs, distribution costs, and taxes, none of which varies significantly with oil prices, constitute a large portion of the price of gasoline."
Ultimately, what (E) is saying is that there are many other factors that go into gasoline prices that are not directly related to oil prices. So, even if oil prices did fall by half, that does not necessarily mean that the gasoline price will also fall by half, since so many other variables constitute a large portion of the price of gasoline, i.e. the price of oil does not affect the price of gasoline as much as the oil analysts are making it seem. So, answer choice (E) shows the sufficient condition of the oil analysts' prediction without the necessary condition--thereby weakening their predication.
Thus, answer choice (E) casts the most serious doubt on the prediction made by the oil analysts.
Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
YivillarMarch 2, 2015
Thank you.
JayDee8732August 12, 2017
How can you tell the difference between cause and effect arguments and necessary and sufficient arguments
kyoonAugust 15, 2017
The reason that d is not correct is because of 'several countries'?
dianalazarJanuary 29, 2022
How can i easily identify which ones are cause and effect? I can never figure out which ones are and which ones are just sufficient and necessary
RaviFebruary 4, 2022
In cause and effect arguments, one thing is directly resulting (causing) the other. Cause and effect arguments are generally always have sufficient and necessary conditions. Sufficient and necessary conditions, however, are not always causal. Sufficient and necessary conditions just mean that the presence of something (sufficient) guarantees the presence of something else (necessary). This does not mean, however, that the sufficient condition is causing the necessary condition. It just means that there is a 100% correlation between these two things.
