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Question

Difficulty: MediumApplying the Negation Technique

Public Health Official: To combat the rising rates of childhood obesity, the city should implement a ban on the sale of sugary drinks in all public schools. Similar bans have been successful in neighboring municipalities. While some argue that students will simply purchase these drinks from stores near the schools during the day, our data shows that most students do not leave the school campus during school hours. Therefore, the ban will significantly reduce the overall daily sugar intake of the city's schoolchildren.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the public health official's argument?

  1. A
    The proposed ban on the sale of sugary drinks is the most effective measure available for reducing the overall daily sugar intake of the city's schoolchildren.
  2. B
    Every student who remains on the school campus during the day currently purchases sugary drinks from the public schools.
  3. The city's schoolchildren will not completely offset the effects of the school ban by increasing their consumption of sugary drinks from other sources.Answer
  4. D
    The rising rates of childhood obesity in the city are primarily caused by the consumption of sugary drinks during the school day.
  5. E
    None of the students who currently purchase sugary drinks at school will attempt to buy them from stores near the school during the day.

Answer

The statement that the schoolchildren will not completely offset the effects of the ban by increasing their consumption from other sources.
For the official's conclusion (that overall daily sugar intake will drop significantly) to hold true, it must be the case that students don't simply replace the banned drinks with sugary drinks from home or after school. When this statement is logically negated—meaning students DO completely offset the ban by getting drinks from other sources—the conclusion that their daily intake will decrease is completely destroyed. This proves the assumption is strictly necessary.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the main conclusion and the supporting premises.
Conclusion: The ban will significantly reduce the overall daily sugar intake. Premises: Most students stay on campus, meaning they cannot easily buy drinks from nearby stores during the day.
Isolating the conclusion is the essential first step to determine exactly what the author is trying to prove.
2
Spot the logical gap between the premises and the conclusion.
The official assumes that blocking access at school and during school hours is enough to reduce total daily intake. This ignores the possibility of students bringing drinks from home or drinking much more after school.
An assumption is an unstated premise that bridges the gap between the evidence provided and the final claim.
3
Use the Negation Technique to test the most promising answer choice.
Negating the correct statement creates the scenario where students DO completely offset the ban by getting sugary drinks elsewhere. If this happens, their overall daily intake is not reduced, which directly contradicts and destroys the conclusion.
The defining characteristic of a necessary assumption is that the argument falls apart if the assumption is proven false.

Key Concept

The Negation Technique involves logically negating an answer choice to see if the resulting statement destroys the argument's conclusion. If it does, the original choice is a necessary assumption.
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Topics

Applying the Negation Technique

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