Thank you for your question. This question asks us to identify a flaw in the method of reasoning. Let's start by ensuring that we correctly understand the stimulus.
The conclusion in this argument is that the government should provide the money to establish a network of supercomputers, rather than industry or universities. Three reasons are given for this conclusion: (1) there is a range of problems that can be attacked only with the massive data managing capacity of a supercomputer network; (2) no business or university has the resources to purchase enough machines for a whole network BY ITSELF [we will come back to this point]; and (3) no business or university wants to invest in part of a network if no mechanism exists for coordinating establishment of the network as a whole.
Let's take a closer look at point 2 above. OK, so no individual business or university has the resources to create a network BY ITSELF, but why can't a group of businesses or universities come together to create a network, without government help?
This weakness is identified in answer choice (E).
Answer choice (C) is incorrect because it addresses an issue that is not even mentioned in the stimulus--the question of network maintenance. Notice, however, that the entire stimulus is about who should establish a network. It doesn't matter (for now) who might maintain it. None of the points made in support of the stimulus's conclusion relate to maintenance, and neither does the conclusion itself. (C) is thus irrelevant, and can be eliminated.
Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
JosephNovember 12, 2015
Thanks. This is helpful.
smilde11April 26, 2018
I broke it down to A and E. E ended up being what I had anticipated before I read the answer choices. However, I went with A because I thought premise (3) listed above eliminated the possibility of E:
"No business or university wants to invest in a PART of a network if no mechanism exists..."
Can you please clarify?
jamesioApril 28, 2018
@smilde11 i made the exact same mistake. could we get an explanation for why A is incorrect?
