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Difficulty: EasyAssumptions in Conditional Logic

Whenever a restaurant fails to maintain strict hygiene standards, it receives negative reviews from local food critics. The new seafood diner in town has consistently failed to maintain strict hygiene standards. Therefore, the new seafood diner will be forced to close down within the year.

The conclusion drawn above follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

  1. A
    Any restaurant that is forced to close down within the year has received negative reviews from local food critics.
  2. B
    A restaurant receives negative reviews from local food critics only if it fails to maintain strict hygiene standards.
  3. Any restaurant that receives negative reviews from local food critics will be forced to close down within the year.Answer
  4. D
    Most restaurants that receive negative reviews from local food critics are forced to close down within the year.
  5. E
    A restaurant will not be forced to close down within the year unless it receives negative reviews from local food critics.

Answer

Any restaurant that receives negative reviews from local food critics will be forced to close down within the year.
The argument establishes that the diner will receive negative reviews, but then concludes it will be forced to close down. For this conclusion to logically follow, there must be a strict rule guaranteeing that receiving negative reviews leads to closing down. The correct option provides this exact necessary bridge, acting as a sufficient assumption.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the premises and the main conclusion of the argument.
Premise 1: Fails hygiene standards -> Negative reviews. Premise 2: Seafood diner -> Fails hygiene standards. Conclusion: Seafood diner -> Forced to close down.
Breaking down the argument into formal conditional logic helps isolate the missing link.
2
Determine the intermediate conclusion established by the premises.
Since the seafood diner fails hygiene standards, it will receive negative reviews (Seafood diner -> Negative reviews).
This connects the specific subject of the argument to the established conditional rule.
3
Identify the logical gap between the intermediate conclusion and the main conclusion.
The argument leaps from the fact that the diner will receive negative reviews to the claim that it will be forced to close down.
To make the conclusion follow logically, we need a conditional rule connecting 'negative reviews' to 'forced to close down'.
4
Formulate the necessary assumption to bridge this gap.
The correct assumption must state: If a restaurant receives negative reviews, it will be forced to close down (Negative reviews -> Forced to close down).
This completes the logical chain (A -> B, B -> C), guaranteeing the conclusion is true.

Key Concept

Bridging gaps in conditional logic chains to justify a conclusion.
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Assumptions in Conditional Logic

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