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Difficulty: MediumStatement and Assumptions

Consider the following statement and the two candidate assumptions that follow it.

Statement:
"The metropolitan transport authority has decided to implement a congestion charge for all private vehicles entering the central business district during peak hours to encourage the use of public transit."

Assumption I: A significant number of commuters currently use private vehicles to enter the central business district during peak hours.
Assumption II: The implementation of the congestion charge will permanently eliminate all traffic jams in the central business district.

Which of the following logically applies?

  1. Only assumption I is implicitAnswer
  2. B
    Only assumption II is implicit
  3. C
    Either assumption I or II is implicit
  4. D
    Neither assumption I nor II is implicit
  5. E
    Both assumptions I and II are implicit

Answer

Only assumption I is implicit.
Assumption I is an implicit premise because the authority's goal to reduce private vehicle usage by imposing a charge logically assumes that there is currently a significant volume of private vehicles causing congestion. Assumption II is not implicit; while the authority aims to reduce congestion, assuming the policy will 'permanently eliminate all' traffic jams is an extreme exaggeration and an unsupported future prediction.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the transport authority's statement to determine the problem and the proposed solution.
Problem: Congestion during peak hours. Solution: Implement a congestion charge on private vehicles to encourage a shift to public transit.
Identifying the core goal helps in evaluating what the author must believe to be true for the policy to make sense.
2
Evaluate Assumption I for logical necessity against the statement.
Assumption I is valid. The authority must assume that private vehicles are currently a significant contributor to peak hour traffic; otherwise, targeting them with a charge would not be a logical solution.
An assumption must act as a foundational, unstated reason for the stated action.
3
Evaluate Assumption II for validity and extreme language.
Assumption II is invalid. While the statement aims to reduce congestion, it does not assume 'all' traffic jams will be 'permanently' eliminated.
Extreme absolute terms like 'permanently' and 'all' are rarely valid implicit assumptions in practical administrative decisions.

Key Concept

Identifying Implicit Premises and Avoiding Extreme Extrapolations
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Topics

Statement and Assumptions

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