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Difficulty: EasyPassage Assumptions and Underlying Premises

Read the following passage carefully:

To mitigate urban water scarcity and reduce reliance on municipal piped supply during dry months, several municipal corporations have introduced rebate policies on property taxes for residential complexes that install functional rainwater harvesting structures. Under this scheme, housing societies receive a ten percent annual property tax concession if their harvesting units capture at least fifty percent of monsoon runoff. City planners argue that providing this financial incentive will rapidly boost private adoption of harvesting structures across suburban neighborhoods. Consequently, peak summer demand on the central water distribution network is expected to drop significantly over the next two years, thereby conserving groundwater reserves without requiring major capital investment from the city treasury.

Statement: The author assumes that a ten percent annual property tax rebate is an adequate financial incentive to motivate residential complexes to install rainwater harvesting systems.

Answer: Answer

Answer

True. The argument inherently relies on the premise that the ten percent property tax concession serves as a sufficient financial incentive for residential complexes to build harvesting infrastructure.
The statement accurately identifies a necessary underlying assumption of the passage. The author claims that tax rebates will result in widespread installation of harvesting units and reduced water grid demand. For this outcome to materialize, it must be assumed that target housing societies find the 10% tax concession sufficient to justify constructing the systems.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the author's main premise and conclusion.
The premise is that offering a 10% tax rebate will lead to adoption of rainwater harvesting, which will achieve the conclusion of reducing peak summer water grid demand.
Evaluating an assumption requires isolating the logical link between the premise and the stated outcome.
2
Apply the negation test to the statement.
Negated statement: 'A ten percent annual property tax rebate is NOT an adequate financial incentive to motivate residential complexes to install rainwater harvesting systems.'
If negating a statement invalidates the passage's main conclusion, that statement is a mandatory underlying assumption.
3
Determine if the negated statement invalidates the author's conclusion.
If housing societies find 10% inadequate, they will not construct harvesting units, so demand on the central grid will not drop as predicted.
Since the argument collapses under negation, the statement represents a necessary assumption (True).

Key Concept

Passage Assumptions and Underlying Premises
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Topics

Passage Assumptions and Underlying Premises

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