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Difficulty: MediumNecessary Assumption

Marine engineer: A newly developed hull coating, AquaShield, prevents barnacle and algae accumulation significantly more effectively than the current industry standard. Since biological accumulation on a ship's hull increases hydrodynamic drag, ships must burn more fuel to maintain their scheduled speeds. Therefore, shipping companies that adopt AquaShield for their fleets will inevitably see a reduction in their overall operational expenses.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the marine engineer's argument depends?

  1. A
    Fuel expenses constitute the single largest category of operational expenses for most commercial shipping companies.
  2. The costs associated with purchasing and applying AquaShield do not completely offset the financial savings gained from reduced fuel consumption.Answer
  3. C
    AquaShield costs exactly the same to manufacture and apply as the current industry standard hull coating.
  4. D
    The shipping companies that currently burn the most fuel are those whose ships travel through waters where biological accumulation occurs most rapidly.
  5. E
    The current industry standard hull coating provides no reduction in hydrodynamic drag compared to an untreated hull.

Answer

The assumption that the costs of purchasing and applying the new coating do not completely offset the savings from reduced fuel consumption.
The argument concludes that overall operational expenses will be reduced based on the premise that one specific expense (fuel) will decrease. For this conclusion to hold true, it must be assumed that the introduction of the new product does not bring with it new costs that wipe out the fuel savings. If the costs of AquaShield were to completely offset the fuel savings, overall expenses would stay the same or rise, destroying the argument.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the main conclusion of the argument.
The conclusion is that adopting AquaShield will reduce overall operational expenses.
Understanding the precise scope of the conclusion is required to find what must be true to support it.
2
Identify the premises supporting the conclusion.
Premise 1: AquaShield prevents accumulation better than the standard. Premise 2: Less accumulation means less drag, which means less fuel burned.
We must map how the author gets from the evidence to the conclusion to spot the gap.
3
Spot the logical gap (term shift) between the premises and the conclusion.
The premises discuss a reduction in a specific cost (fuel). The conclusion jumps to a reduction in 'overall operational expenses'.
A necessary assumption must bridge the gap between a specific component and a total aggregate.
4
Apply the Negation Test to the correct candidate.
If the costs of AquaShield DO completely offset the fuel savings, then overall expenses will not decrease. The conclusion is destroyed.
The Negation Test definitively proves whether an assumption is strictly necessary.

Key Concept

Identifying Necessary Assumptions (Bridging the gap between specific savings and overall costs)
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Necessary Assumption

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