Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage/argument and answer the question that follows it.

Very few inputs influence the US economic system as much as oil prices. Oil runs the cars, trucks and planes that transport people and products. As oil prices rise, costs rise for transportation companies such as airlines and freight delivery companies, squeezing their profit margins. Downstream of these companies, customers who rely on them to get products to markets are similarly impacted by higher prices. Contrarily, most energy companies benefit from higher oil prices, either from higher oil revenues, or due to more demand for alternatives like ethanol and clean energy. Car companies with fuel conservation technology such as hybrid engines can expect more sales as consumers feel the pinch of higher oil prices, while those who rely on sales of Sports Utility Vehicles may feel challenged business-wise.

The author conveys his point primarily by

  1. creating an analogy between two directionally dissimilar but logically equivalent phenomena

  2. making use of an example to illustrate something else happening in an entirely different field

  3. analysing a phenomenon in terms of the a chains of cause and effect

  4. using points and counter-pints in favour of and against a particular idea

  5. using a set of phenomena to illustrate how the two, despite being opposed to each other, are still the same
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

An analogy, by definition, compares two sets of phenomena, each containing a set of minimum two items. This is not the case here, thereby ruling out option (1). The area of discussion remains only and only the impact of rising oil prices on different sets of industries and people. No idea has been favoured or criticised by the author. Thus option (4) is again wrong. Option (5) could be similarly ruled out as the two kinds of effects being discussed are not the same. Option (3) happens to be the best choice in that the author mainly talking about the sequential effects of an oil price rise on different industries and people.

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