Sufficient Necessary Question

[defense]

I can't figure out how to arrive at the answer to this question.  I have it diagramed as follows:

SANT --> PCFS
PCFS --> Not LPR
Not LPR --> SGM

I just do not see how I can link the premises together to get to answer choice E, which states: LPARF --> MSF.

When the manufacturers in a given country are slower to adopt new technologies than their foreign competitors are, their production costs will fall more slowly than their foreign competitors costs’ will. But if manufacturers’ production costs fall less rapidly than their competitors costs do, those manufacturers will be unable to lower their prices as rapidly as their foreign competitors can; and when a country’s manufacturers cannot lower their prices as rapidly as their foreign competitor’s can, that country gets squeezed out of the global market.

If the statements above are true, which one of the following must be true on the basis of them?

(A) If the manufacturers in one country raise their prices, it is because they have squeezed their foreign competitors out of the global market.

(B) If manufacturers in one country have been squeezed out of the global market, this shows that their foreign competitors have adopted new technologies more rapidly than they have.

(C) If a country’s foreign competitors can lower their production costs more rapidly than the country’s own manufacturers can, then their foreign competitors must have adopted new manufacturing techniques.

(D) If a country’s manufacturers adopt new technologies at the same rate as their foreign competitors, neither group will be able to squeeze the other out of the global market.

(E) If a country’s manufacturers can lower their prices as rapidly as their foreign competitors, this shows that they adopt new technology at least as fast as their foreign competitors do.

[Denny Crane]

Ok, this is how I approached this question (I recognize it from Testmasters homework 1 or 2)...

Start w/ the first premise:

"When the manufacturers in a given country are slower to adopt new technologies than their foreign competitors are, their production costs will fall more slowly than their foreign competitors costs’ will."

I diagram this as follows:  Not AT --> Not LPC
(AT = adopt technology, LPC = lower production costs)

Second premise:

"But if manufacturers’ production costs fall less rapidly than their competitors costs do, those manufacturers will be unable to lower their prices as rapidly as their foreign competitors can."

Diagram: Not LPC --> Not LP
(LP = lower prices)

Third premise:

"and when a country’s manufacturers cannot lower their prices as rapidly as their foreign competitor’s can, that country gets squeezed out of the global market."

Diagram: Not LP --> Not GM
(GM = global market)

Basically, Answer choice "E" is the contrapositive of the first premise:

LPC --> AT (lower production costs implies adopting technology as fast as competitors).

The other two premises are not very useful to finding the correct answer, and I suspect that they're thrown in there to throw you off.  I got this question incorrect when I encountered it on the homework.  It was a tricky one.  Hope this helps.

[defense]

Swat,

Thansk so much for responding. I could not figure it out becuase I did not have anything negated.

Thanks! 

[nonameee]

I know that this topic is very old, but can someone please explain where a mistake in my reasoning is?

(E) If a country’s manufacturers can lower their prices as rapidly as their foreign competitors, this shows that they adopt new technology at least as fast as their foreign competitors do.

How come that it shows that they adopt new technology as fast as their competitors? What if they're lowering the prices because it's the only way to survive?

Please explain