Stimulus
I fell into a trap and selected 'D' as my answer choice. After reviewing the question again, I realized that I made an assumption when choosing 'D' as the answer choice.
A) "Businesses generally greatly underestimate the risk of future accidents". This was easy for me to glance over because I was looking for a STRONG weakener. However, the correct answer choice doesn't have to be super strong to work. This answer choice works because it demonstrates the "it will probably won't happen to us" mentality. These business may meet the sufficient condition of "values their profits" but there may be an alternative reason or an explanation for their lack of environmental safeguards. If this is true, the conclusion doesn't follow. Therefore, A is the correct answer choice.
B ) We don't know if preventing accidents are long-term or short-term, so what?
C) Business sense is NOT equal to profit. NEXT.
D) This is tricky. "Businesses treat fines that are levied against them as an ordinary business expense". If you're like me, you made an assumption if you selected this answer choice. You probably assumed that businesses wouldn't install safeguards because the cost of the fines are worked into the budget. However, this answer choice could actually strengthen the argument. If businesses meet the sufficient condition of "Values their profits", avoiding accidents could improve their bottom line. Then there's a reason to install safeguards.
E) What does this have to do with their profits???
Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Please critique or provide your reasoning.