Q11 - The demand for used cars

[csunnerberg13]

Working on my strengthen/weaken skills, so thought I'd break down this question that didn't have an explanation posted yet.

The conclusion here is that the new car market will most likely improve soon and the reason given for that is because an increasing number of West Germans will take advantage of the improved market of used cars and begin selling their used cars.

We're looking to support this argument so I went into it looking for something that would fill the most obvious gap - that just because they sell their cars doesn't mean they will then be buying new cars. Although often I don't know what to expect on strengthen questions so I just went into it with that in mind.

(A) doesn't matter. Comparing the demand for used cars in west Germany to that in East Germany doesn't tell us anything to indicate if that would have on the german new car market. If anything, this answer choice leans more in the direction of weakening: if the demand for old cars is high in west Germany, then maybe people won't go to buy new cars after they've sold their cars. Eliminate A

(B) is irrelevant. We don't care about the amount of tax - this doesn't tell me what's happening to the new car market, especially being as vague as "in many European countries..."


(C) if anything, weakens. If they own very few cars, maybe when they sell their car they are not likely to buy another one...this is a lot of inferences to be making, though. This definitely does nothing to support our argument, even if it doesn't totally weaken. eliminate

(D) gives us something better and even fulfills what I predicted - it strengthens the argument by filling in the gap - now we know that once people sell their car, they're going to go buy another one in the new car market.

(E) doesn't tells us much... only "many" east Germans...that could just be one. It doesn't give us enough information to make any inferences that could get us near our conclusion.

[tommywallach]

Hey Csunner,

Great great work here. I love most to all of it. The only things I'd say:

1) Try to describe the core in terms of:

Conclusion:
Premise:

It helps to have a really codified structure to look at, both for you, and for others!

2) The game they're trying to play in (B) would be relevant to purchasing, which is worth pointing out. If one had to pay some kind of taxes when buying a car, and if that tax were heavier on new cars, that could strengthen the argument.

3) I think (E) is actually another weaken, because it's implying that the new cars bought will be bought from abroad, so the German new-car market wouldn't improve.

Otherwise, perfect!

-t

[WaltGrace1983]

I got turned around on this one so I thought I'd add another write-up (though the others are definitely sufficient in their own right). This is a strengthen question and most of the information it has can be condensed down.

East Germans have a high demand for used cars and thus the market for used cars has improved
+
West Germans will sell cars to take advantage of this improved market
→
German new-car market will improve soon too

The reason why I got turned around on this one was because I failed to understand how markets improve, according to the stimulus. However, upon a second read-through, one can see a causal connection between demand and the market, i.e. that the more demand creates an improved market. This understanding is absolutely pivotal to the understanding of the stimulus as a whole. Thus, what is the author assuming here? The author is assuming that the West Germans are going to actually demand new cars. If they demand new cars then the market will apparently improve.

(A) We know that the demand for new cars in East Germany is not very good and thus we could probably presume that there isn't much of a demand for old cars in West Germany. Either way, none of this matters! We need to talk about the demand of NEW cars in Germany, not old ones! This is because the conclusion is talking about the NEW car market, saying that the NEW car market will soon improve.

(B) Most European countries? Okay some scope issues here. Less tax? What? This is just way out of scope.

(C) I originally picked this yet I still think that it is a decent answer choice but only if we make a lot of further assumptions. This usually is not very conducive to a correct answer choice though. I was initially thinking that maybe they own very few cars because they buy all their cars new and thus they last a long time. However, this is bringing in too much extraneous details that simply isn't discussed or validated in the argument. This is, altogether, just an out of scope answer.

(D) Ah! Perfect! This is exactly what I wanted. If they purchase new cars, they demand new cars. If they demand new cars then the market will improve. Lookin' good!

(E) Way out of scope. We don't care about where these cars come from or why they prefer to buy them.

[MaximillianS700]

C: the German new-car market will most likely improve soon.

This is true because:

P1: more West-Germans (than previously) will sell their used-cars.

(The rest of the info is not relevant to the central core of the argument. It’s just context.)

Flaw? Doesn’t explain why more West-Germans selling their used-cars will most likely improve the German new-car market.

Pre-phrase? Correct answer choice will give a reason more used-cars being sold will result in an improvement in the German new car market.
A) Doesn’t give a reason why more used-cars being sold will result in an improvement in the German new car market.
B) Doesn’t give a reason why more used-cars being sold will result in an improvement in the German new car market.
C) Doesn’t give a reason why more used-cars being sold will result in an improvement in the German new car market.
D) Yes! This gives a reason.
E) Doesn’t give a reason why more used-cars being sold will result in an improvement in the German new car market.