Official Explanation

Argument Evaluation

This item requires us to identify a criticism to which this argument is vulnerable.

The argument is as follows: an increasing number of banks in a particular country exist in no specific community, but only on the Internet. The banker believes the country's law requiring banks to invest in their specific communities will soon cease to serve its purpose, namely, to help revitalize impoverished communities.

Note that the banker's conclusion is quite strong: The law will soon entirely cease to serve its intended purpose. The only reasons to believe that the law would entirely cease to serve its … purpose would be: (1) if circumstances led to the complete disappearance of banks that do exist in specific communities; (2) if somehow circumstances caused investment in impoverished local communities to fail to revitalize those communities.

A. To propose that most banks that are physically located in specific communities are not located in impoverished communities would, if anything, help support the banker's argument. That is, these banks would not have local communities in need of help, so the law would have little real effect on the impoverished communities it is intended to serve.

B. First, it is not clear that the argument does take for granted that the law will serve no other beneficial purpose even if it fails to serve its intended purpose. Even if the argument did take this statement as given, it does nothing to call into question the banker's argument.

C. The argument does not confuse cause and effect.

D. The argument does not confuse correlation with causation.

E. Correct. The argument's only reason given for its conclusion is that the number of Internet-only banks is growing. This does not mean, however, that banks within local communities will no longer exist, or that those banks' investments will fail to help revitalize impoverished communities. Even if the number of local banks declines, as long as some local banks remain, the law will not necessarily cease to serve its intended purpose.

The correct answer is E.