The conclusion of the argument is: "to reduce the total number of fatalities that result annually from such collisions the airlines should be required to remove all seats that restrict access to emergency exits."
Why? The number of aircraft collisions on the ground is increasing because of the substantial increase in the number of flights operated by the airlines. We are told that many of the fatalities that occur in such collisions are caused not by the collision itself, but by an inherent flaw in the cabin design of most aircraft, in which seats, by restricting access to emergency exits, impede escape.
Answer choice (A) strengthens the argument by introducing an analogous scenario: theater patrons not being able to theatres, which was remedied by requiring theatres to have aisles leading to each exit, i.e. the same proposal as in the airline: being "required to remove all seats that restrict access to emergency exits."
Thus, since this proposal helped reduce the number of deaths that occurred un theater fires, it helps strengthens the argument that doing this same thing will help reduce to the total number of fatalities that result annually from collisions, due to the analogous nature of both scenarios.
Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Jessica-KilleenFebruary 4, 2019
Why is the correct answer choice not E? Doesn't E strengthen the premise of the conclusion that says the collision itself doesn't cause the most injuries?
RaviFebruary 4, 2019
@Jessica-Killeen,
Great question. Regarding (E), the contents of the stimulus are primarily concerned with the evacuation of the plane (impeding escape), so the issue of how many of the passengers are initially injured is not relevant to the argument, so this answer choice is wrong. We can reasonably assume that the stimulus is dealing with fatalities caused as a result of overcrowding or to failure to evacuate the plane's passengers before additional effects (such as carbon monoxide poisoning or fire) become a concern for the passengers.
Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!
