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Difficulty: EasySufficient Assumption

The university has announced that any student who completes the advanced research seminar will be awarded a special graduation commendation. Therefore, we can be certain that every student majoring in history will be awarded this special graduation commendation.

Which one of the following, if assumed, enables the argument's conclusion to be properly drawn?

  1. A
    Every student who completes the advanced research seminar is majoring in history.
  2. B
    Only students majoring in history will be awarded the special graduation commendation.
  3. Every student majoring in history completes the advanced research seminar.Answer
  4. D
    Most students majoring in history complete the advanced research seminar.
  5. E
    Students majoring in history are more likely than other students to enroll in the advanced research seminar.

Answer

The option stating that every student majoring in history completes the advanced research seminar.
The argument establishes a conditional rule in the premise: If a student takes the seminar, then they receive the commendation. The conclusion attempts to state: If a student is a history major, then they receive the commendation. To make this conclusion 100% logically valid, we must bridge the gap between being a history major and taking the seminar. The correct answer provides this exact bridge: If a student is a history major, then they take the seminar. This creates a perfect deductive chain.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the argument's core premise and main conclusion.
Premise: Completing the seminar guarantees the commendation. Conclusion: Majoring in history guarantees the commendation.
Isolating the formal structure of the argument is necessary to spot the missing logical link.
2
Determine the gap in the reasoning.
The argument jumps from the condition of 'majoring in history' to the trigger of 'completing the seminar' without connecting them.
The conclusion introduces a new group (history majors) that must be directly linked to the premise's trigger condition (completing the seminar).
3
Formulate the missing sufficient assumption.
The required assumption is that all history majors complete the advanced research seminar.
If all history majors take the seminar, and taking the seminar guarantees the commendation, then all history majors are mathematically guaranteed to receive the commendation.

Key Concept

Sufficient Assumption (Formal Logic Bridge)
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Topics

Sufficient Assumption

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