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Difficulty: MediumIdentifying Unstated Assumptions

Consider the following argument:

To reduce water consumption, a semiconductor manufacturing plant plans to replace its traditional chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) liquid slurry rinsing system with a dry electrostatic aerosol cleaning process. Plant management claims that this transition will significantly lower the facility's overall monthly operating expenses.

Statement: The argument relies on the unstated assumption that the electrical energy required to operate the dry electrostatic aerosol cleaning system will not incur operational costs that exceed the financial savings achieved from reduced water usage.

Answer: Answer

Answer

True
The statement is True. The conclusion makes a claim regarding net financial outcomes (overall monthly operating expenses). The premise only establishes a savings in one specific input (water). For a reduction in one input to guarantee a overall cost reduction, additional energy costs introduced by the new machinery cannot exceed the savings generated from the reduced water usage. Negating this claim directly invalidates the author's conclusion.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Deconstruct the argument into premise and conclusion.
Premise: The plant is switching from a liquid slurry rinse to a dry electrostatic aerosol process to reduce water consumption. Conclusion: This transition will significantly lower overall monthly operating expenses.
Identifying the gap between reducing a single resource (water) and lowering overall expenses requires analyzing all potential cost shifts.
2
Apply the Negation Test to the assumed statement.
Negated statement: The electrical energy required to run the aerosol system DOES create operational costs that exceed the financial savings from reduced water usage.
If the negated assumption is true, total operating expenses will net an increase, causing the main conclusion to collapse.
3
Determine necessity of the unstated claim.
Because the collapse of the conclusion under negation proves the claim is essential, the original statement is a required unstated assumption.
A valid unstated assumption in GMAT Critical Reasoning must be a necessary condition for the conclusion to hold.

Key Concept

Identifying Unstated Assumptions via the Negation Test
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Identifying Unstated Assumptions

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