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Difficulty: EasyNecessary Assumption

A recent study found that employees who voluntarily take frequent short breaks during the workday are more productive overall than employees who do not take such breaks. Based on this study, the human resources director concludes that if the company mandates frequent short breaks for all of its employees, the company's overall productivity will increase.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the director's argument depends?

  1. A
    Any company policy that requires employees to adopt the habits of highly productive workers will guarantee an increase in overall productivity.
  2. B
    Highly productive employees naturally tend to take more frequent short breaks than less productive employees do.
  3. The productivity benefits of taking frequent short breaks do not depend entirely on the employees choosing to take those breaks voluntarily.Answer
  4. D
    The company's employees will generally be in favor of a new policy that mandates frequent short breaks.
  5. E
    Other companies that have mandated frequent short breaks have experienced significant increases in their overall productivity.

Answer

The productivity benefits of taking frequent short breaks do not depend entirely on the employees choosing to take those breaks voluntarily.
The argument assumes that the positive effects of the breaks will still occur even if the breaks are not voluntary. If we apply the Negation Test and assume the opposite—that the productivity benefits depend entirely on the breaks being voluntary—then the director's plan to mandate them would not increase productivity. Because negating this statement destroys the argument, it is a logically necessary assumption.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the argument's core components: the premise and the conclusion.
Premise: Employees who voluntarily take short breaks are more productive. Conclusion: Mandating short breaks for all employees will increase overall productivity.
Deconstructing the argument is the first step to finding logical gaps.
2
Identify the logical gap or shift in language between the premise and the conclusion.
The premise is about 'voluntarily' taking breaks, while the conclusion shifts to the company 'mandating' (forcing) breaks.
Necessary assumptions often bridge a gap between the exact wording in the premises and the new concepts introduced in the conclusion.
3
Formulate a necessary assumption that defends the argument from this gap.
The argument assumes that forcing people to take breaks will still yield the same positive results as when people choose to take them on their own.
If the benefit only comes from the voluntary nature of the break, then a mandate would fail.
4
Apply the Negation Test to the correct answer candidate.
Negating the correct option yields: 'The productivity benefits DO depend entirely on the employees choosing to take those breaks voluntarily.' This negated statement destroys the director's conclusion.
The Negation Test is the definitive method for verifying a necessary assumption.

Key Concept

Necessary Assumption (Defender)
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Necessary Assumption

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