Answer the following question based on the information given below:
The difficulty with the proposed high-speed train line is that a used plane can be bought for one-third the price of the train line, and the plane, which is just as fast, can fly anywhere. The train would be a fixed linear system, and we live in a world that is spreading out in all directions and in which consumers choose the free-wheel systems (cars, buses, aircraft), which do not have fixed routes. Thus a sufficient market for the train will not exist.
Which of the following, if true, most severely weakens the argument presented above?
The author argues that planes, since they are a free-wheel system, will be preferred to the high-speed train. Choice C weakens the argument by pointing out that planes are not a free-wheel system and are less convenient than the high-speed train would be. Thus C is the best answer. The special feature of the high-speed train described in A is not one that clearly affects consumer choice one way or the other way. Since it is planes that would compete effectively with the proposed trains, the fact that cars and buses might not do so is irrelevant. Non-availability of certain station (choice D).