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Difficulty: MediumBridging Gap (Supporter) Assumptions

Agronomist: The newly developed "Crimson" tomato cultivar has a significantly thicker skin than traditional heirloom varieties. Because of its thicker skin, the Crimson cultivar is far less susceptible to puncturing by standard agricultural harvesting machinery. Therefore, adopting the Crimson cultivar will lead to a more visually appealing crop at the local markets.

The agronomist's argument depends on which one of the following assumptions?

  1. A
    Consumers at local markets base their tomato purchasing decisions primarily on visual appeal rather than taste.
  2. B
    If a tomato is visually appealing at the local markets, it was not punctured by standard agricultural harvesting machinery.
  3. Puncturing by standard agricultural harvesting machinery diminishes the visual appeal of tomatoes.Answer
  4. D
    Any tomato that avoids being punctured by standard harvesting machinery will be highly visually appealing at the local markets.
  5. E
    Traditional heirloom varieties of tomatoes are generally considered to be less visually appealing than newly developed cultivars.

Answer

The correct assumption is that puncturing by standard agricultural harvesting machinery diminishes the visual appeal of tomatoes.
The correct answer identifies the unstated, necessary link between the premises and the conclusion. The premises establish that the Crimson cultivar is less likely to be punctured by machinery. The conclusion leaps to the claim that the Crimson cultivar will be more visually appealing. For the argument to be logically sound, there must be a connection between avoiding machinery punctures and possessing visual appeal. If puncturing does not negatively affect a tomato's visual appeal (applying the Negation Test), the conclusion entirely falls apart.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the main conclusion of the argument.
The conclusion is: 'Adopting the Crimson cultivar will lead to a more visually appealing crop at the local markets.'
Finding the conclusion establishes the endpoint of the argument's logic.
2
Identify the premises provided to support this conclusion.
The premises are: 'Crimson has thicker skin' and 'Crimson is far less susceptible to puncturing by standard agricultural harvesting machinery.'
Understanding the evidence shows what foundation the author is building upon.
3
Identify the conceptual gap between the premises and the conclusion.
The premises discuss 'puncturing by machinery', but the conclusion introduces a new, 'rogue' concept: 'visually appealing crop'.
Recognizing a new term in the conclusion is the key to identifying a missing Supporter Assumption.
4
Formulate the missing link (the Supporter Assumption).
The argument must assume that there is a connection between machinery punctures and visual appeal, specifically that such punctures negatively affect visual appeal.
Without this link, the fact that the tomatoes avoid being punctured is irrelevant to how visually appealing they are.

Key Concept

Identifying necessary Supporter Assumptions that bridge rogue concepts in the conclusion back to the premises.
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Topics

Bridging Gap (Supporter) Assumptions

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