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Difficulty: EasySufficient Assumption

Each of the following arguments contains an inferential gap between its stated premise and its conclusion. Match each argument with the assumption that, if assumed, is logically sufficient to guarantee that the conclusion follows deductively.

  • Premise: Any company that implements closed-loop water recycling reduces total factory waste.
    Conclusion: Hydrolix Enterprises will experience increased long-term profitability.    Any company that reduces its total factory waste will experience increased long-term profitability.
  • Premise: Every municipality that builds protected cycling networks experiences a marked decrease in urban traffic congestion.
    Conclusion: The city of Oakhaven will receive the National Clean Transit Award.    Any municipality that experiences a marked decrease in urban traffic congestion will receive the National Clean Transit Award.
  • Premise: All medical research laboratories that use double-blind verification protocols eliminate reporting bias in clinical trials.
    Conclusion: Vitasyn Laboratories will secure immediate regulatory authorization.    Any medical research laboratory that eliminates reporting bias in clinical trials will secure immediate regulatory authorization.

Answer

Each argument is matched with the conditional statement linking its explicit intermediate outcome to its specific final conclusion: the Hydrolix argument pairs with the statement that reducing factory waste yields increased long-term profitability; the Oakhaven argument pairs with the statement that decreased traffic congestion earns the National Clean Transit Award; and the Vitasyn argument pairs with the statement that eliminating reporting bias secures regulatory authorization.
For each pairing, the matched assumption provides a universal conditional link where the antecedent matches the outcome from the premise and the consequent matches the exact claim made in the conclusion. When combined with the premise, this creates a valid hypothetical syllogism that deductively validates the conclusion.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the premise and conclusion structure for each argument to isolate the unstated link.
Each argument follows a linear conditional chain where Premise establishes [Condition A → Condition B], but Conclusion claims [Entity possessing Condition A → Condition C].
Sufficient assumptions must supply a valid conditional rule [Condition B → Condition C] to connect the existing premise to the novel conclusion term.
2
Match each argument's intermediate result with the corresponding right-side rule providing the exact conclusion term.
Hydrolix's reduced factory waste connects to increased profitability; Oakhaven's decreased traffic congestion connects to the Clean Transit Award; Vitasyn's elimination of reporting bias connects to regulatory authorization.
Plugging in the premise plus the sufficient bridge fully forces the conclusion to be true in each case.

Key Concept

Sufficient Assumption Conditional Bridging
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Sufficient Assumption

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