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Question

Difficulty: MediumNecessary Assumption

Corporate Consultant: To boost overall employee productivity, our company should replace standard office chairs with standing desks. A recent occupational health study found that office workers who switched to standing desks experienced a significant decrease in chronic back pain. Furthermore, it is well established that employees who experience less overall physical discomfort are able to maintain concentration on their tasks for significantly longer periods.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the corporate consultant's argument depends?

  1. The reduction in back pain experienced by standing desk users is not typically offset by an increase in other forms of physical discomfort.Answer
  2. B
    Standing desks are the single most effective intervention available for reducing physical discomfort among office workers.
  3. C
    Every employee at the company who currently uses a standard office chair suffers from some degree of chronic back pain.
  4. D
    The primary cause of back pain among the company's employees is the prolonged use of standard office chairs.
  5. E
    The financial cost of replacing standard office chairs with standing desks will be fully recovered through subsequent gains in employee productivity.

Answer

The assumption that the reduction in back pain is not offset by an increase in other forms of physical discomfort.
The argument relies on a shift from a specific benefit (reduced back pain) to a general requirement (less overall physical discomfort). For this shift to be valid, the author must assume that the specific benefit isn't canceled out by a new specific harm. By negating the correct option—assuming that other discomforts DO increase and offset the back pain reduction—the employees would no longer experience the 'less overall physical discomfort' required to increase concentration, causing the argument to fall apart.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the conclusion of the argument.
The company should replace standard chairs with standing desks to boost overall employee productivity.
This sets the target that the premises must support.
2
Identify the premises providing support.
Standing desks decrease chronic back pain. Less 'overall' physical discomfort leads to longer concentration periods (which presumably boosts productivity).
This outlines the causal chain the author believes will occur.
3
Find the logical gap between the premises and the conclusion.
The argument conflates a specific reduction (decrease in back pain) with a general state (less overall physical discomfort).
A decrease in back pain only leads to less overall physical discomfort if standing desks do not simultaneously cause other types of pain.
4
Apply the Negation Test to the correct answer candidate.
If the reduction in back pain IS offset by an increase in other forms of physical discomfort, the employees do not achieve 'less overall physical discomfort'.
Because the negated assumption destroys the link between the premises and the conclusion, it is logically necessary for the argument.

Key Concept

Necessary Assumption
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Necessary Assumption

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