hard · Gre Verbal

A skeptic objects that over the same interval the company also cut its user base by nearly half after retiring an unpopular product line. [[Since fewer users will report proportionally fewer bugs regardless of code quality, the halved bug count is exactly what one would expect even if the code had not improved at all.]] In the argument, the two boldface portions play which of the following roles?

1. The first is the evidence the team offers for its claim; the second is the reasoning by which the skeptic neutralizes that evidence.
2. The first is the team's main conclusion about its improved code quality; the second is the skeptic's own directly opposing counter-conclusion.
3. The first is a premise the skeptic freely accepts; the second is the skeptic's main conclusion, which contradicts that premise.
4. The first is evidence the skeptic shows to be false; the second explains the underlying error that produced the false figure.
5. The first supports the team's stated conclusion about quality; the second is an entirely unrelated observation that the skeptic adds on the side.

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