Note that it’s important to translate the conclusion — “this is a mistake” — into “the railroad company is not (at all) at fault.” If you don’t realize that the conclusion is asserting that the railroad company is 0% at fault, you’ll struggle with this question.
Moreover, the answer, in connection with the premises, must establish that the railroad company bears no fault at all. If the answer allows the railroad company to possibly bear partial fault, it’s not correct.
Here’s an example answer that could make the argument valid:
If an accident could have been avoided by an adult who should know better than to act in a way that led to the accident, then nobody else is at fault except the adult.
A
The gates could be made larger, yet irresponsible drivers might still be able to go around them onto the tracks.
B
Capable adults have a responsibility to take some measures to ensure their own safety.
C
When the warnings of companies are disregarded by capable adults, the adults are fully responsible for any resulting accidents.
D
Small children are not involved in accidents resulting from drivers going around the gates.
E
Any company’s responsibility to promote public safety is not unlimited.
A new device uses the global positioning system to determine a cow’s location and, when a cow strays outside of its pasture, makes noises in the cow’s ears to steer it back to its home range. Outfitting all of the cattle in a herd with this device is far more expensive than other means of keeping cattle in their pastures, such as fences. The device’s maker nevertheless predicts that ranchers will purchase the device at its current price.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why does the device’s maker think that ranchers will buy the device at its current price even though it is far more expensive to use this device on all the cattle in a herd than it is to use some other means of keeping cattle in their pasture?
Objective
The correct answer will be a hypothesis that explains a key characteristic of this device that makes ranchers likely to purchase the device in spite of the fact that it is very costly to outfit all the cattle in a herd with this device.
A
The price of the device will come down appreciably if the device’s maker is able to produce it in large quantities.
The device’s maker predicts that ranchers will buy the device at its current price, so whether its price decreases in the future is irrelevant. Also, (A) does not help to explain why ranchers will purchase the device at its current price.
B
As they graze, cattle in a herd follow the lead of the same few members of the herd.
This highlights a key feature that makes ranchers likely to buy the device, even though it’s expensive to outfit an entire herd with it. The reason is simply that ranchers only need to outfit a few leading cattle, not all of them.
C
The device has been shown not to cause significant stress to cattle.
The device may not cause stress to cattle, but this doesn’t give a reason why ranchers will purchase it despite its cost. Presumably there are other, cheaper means of keeping cattle in their pasture that also don’t cause stress. So what’s so great about this device?
D
The device has been shown to be as effective as fences at keeping cattle in their pastures.
If the device is as effective as fences at keeping cattle in their pastures, but fences are far less expensive, why will the ranchers still purchase the device? We need to highlight a characteristic of this device that will cause ranchers to purchase it.
E
The device’s maker offers significant discounts to purchasers who buy in bulk.
Like (A), the device’s maker predicts that ranchers will buy the device at its current price, so whether it is discounted for bulk purchases is not relevant.