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Difficulty: MediumIdentifying Sufficient Assumptions

Effective urban planning requires a deep understanding of historical zoning laws. Yet, any urban planner whose education was restricted entirely to contemporary civil engineering will lack a deep understanding of historical zoning laws. Therefore, city governments should never employ urban planners whose education was restricted entirely to contemporary civil engineering.

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

  1. City governments should employ only those urban planners who are capable of effective urban planning.Answer
  2. B
    City governments should employ any urban planner who is capable of effective urban planning.
  3. C
    A deep understanding of historical zoning laws is the most important qualification for an urban planner employed by a city government.
  4. D
    Most urban planners whose education was restricted entirely to contemporary civil engineering are incapable of effective urban planning.
  5. E
    City governments should employ urban planners if they possess a deep understanding of historical zoning laws.

Answer

The assumption that city governments should employ only those urban planners who are capable of effective urban planning.
The correct answer bridges the gap between the facts provided about planners (their capabilities) and the prescriptive conclusion about what the city should do (hiring practices). By stating that city governments should employ ONLY those capable of effective planning, it creates the conditional statement: Employed → Capable of Effective Planning. Since the premises dictate that planners with the restricted education are not capable of effective planning, this assumption mathematically forces the conclusion that they must not be employed.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Deconstruct the premises into formal logical statements.
Premise 1: Effective Urban Planning (EUP) → Deep Understanding of Historical Zoning Laws (DUHZL). Premise 2: Education Restricted to Contemporary Civil Engineering (ERCE) → ~DUHZL.
Mapping the conditional logic makes the logical gap in the argument visible.
2
Determine the inferences that can be drawn from combining the premises.
By linking Premise 2 to the contrapositive of Premise 1 (~DUHZL → ~EUP), we deduce: ERCE → ~EUP.
This establishes exactly what we know about the urban planners mentioned in the conclusion.
3
Identify the conclusion and pinpoint the logical gap.
Conclusion: City Government Employs (CGE) → ~ERCE. The gap is between a planner's inability to engage in effective urban planning (~EUP) and the city's hiring practices (CGE).
A sufficient assumption must introduce a new premise that flawlessly connects the established facts to the conclusion.
4
Formulate the required assumption to bridge the gap.
We need: CGE → EUP. If the city only hires those capable of effective urban planning, and we know ERCE planners are NOT capable, then the city will not hire ERCE planners.
This perfectly completes the deductive chain: CGE → EUP → DUHZL → ~ERCE.

Key Concept

Identifying Sufficient Assumptions through Conditional Logic Chaining
Estimated Time:1m 45s
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Topics

Identifying Sufficient Assumptions

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