Consider the following argument:
A commercial pharmaceutical company plans to transition its temperature-sensitive vaccine shipments from refrigerated delivery trucks to insulated containers cooled by solid carbon dioxide (dry ice). Company executives calculate that because dry ice maintains low temperatures without drawing power from vehicle engines, fuel consumption per delivery truck will drop by 12%. They conclude that adopting these dry-ice containers will reduce the company's total carbon emissions from vaccine distribution.
Statement: The carbon emissions produced during the industrial manufacturing and supply of the dry ice will not exceed the carbon emissions saved by the reduction in truck fuel consumption.
Answer: Answer
Answer
True. The statement represents a necessary assumption because if dry ice manufacturing emissions exceed the fuel emission savings, the overall carbon emissions from vaccine distribution would increase, destroying the argument's conclusion.
The argument relies on a scope shift from vehicle fuel emissions to total distribution emissions. To bridge this gap, the process of supplying dry ice must not generate more carbon emissions than the vehicle fuel savings eliminate. Applying the Negation Test confirms that if dry ice production emissions exceed fuel savings, the conclusion fails completely.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Negation Test for Unstated Assumptions