Two years ago, the state of Lonsia declared the goal of reducing the n...
Two years ago, the state of Lonsia declared the goal of reducing the number of un-recycled soda cans to half. The un-recycled soda cans were about 10 per person then. Currently the soda cans that are un-recycled are only 5 per person. Clearly, the state has met its goal.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
Argument Analysis
Pre-Thinking
Conclusion Clarification
N/A
Pre-Thinking Approach
To pre-think assumptions, let’s see how we can falsify the conclusion. The assumptions will then be that the falsification conditions do not exist.
The way to falsify the conclusion will be to identify reasons to show that Lonsia has not met its goal of reducing the number of un-recycled cans to half. To do so, we will look at the logical structure, focusing on the linkage 1.
Linkage #1
Note that the logical structure shows that the goal talks about an absolute reduction in the number of un-recycled soda cans while the premise talks about a reduction in the number of un-recycled soda cans per person.
- Falsifying condition – A reason that shows that Lonsia has not met its goal of reducing un-recycled cans to half.
- For example, if the number of people doubled in the two years, the number of un-recycled cans could still be the same even though the number of recycled cans could have halved.
- Assumption - The number of people in Lonsia has not gone up significantly in the last two years.
Now that we have a fair understanding of the argument, let’s take a look at the option statements.
Answer Choices
A
People are increasingly becoming aware of the harmful effects of drinking soda.
Incorrect - Irrelevant
The argument talks about whether the goal of reducing the number of un-recycled soda cans to half has been achieved or not. The reason behind the reduction in soda consumption is not something on which the conclusion depends
B
There is little damage to the overall soft drink industry due to the negative publicity generated by the recycling campaign.
Incorrect - Irrelevant
Even if there has been a significant amount of damage to the soft-drink industry, it does not warrant the conclusion that the number of un-recycled soda cans has decreased significantly. For instance, what if the number of overall soda cans purchased has decreased but at the same time the number of recycled soda cans has decreased substantially?
C
Lonsia is not the only state that is concerned about recycling.
Incorrect - Irrelevant
The option statement talks about recycling in other states. We are concerned with only Lonsia.
D
The total population of the state of Lonsia has not increased substantially in the past two years.
Correct
This option matches the assumption that we identified in our pre-thinking linkage #1 analysis.
e
The per-capita consumption of soda in the state of Lonsia has not increased during the past two years.
Incorrect - Irrelevant
This option talks about soda consumption while the argument is only concerned with un-recycled soda cans/person.