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Difficulty: MediumStatement and Assumptions

An official press release from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) states the following:

"In a bid to enhance passenger safety and bring down highway collision rates, it is now mandatory for all inter-state commercial buses to be equipped with electronic speed limiters capped at 80 km/h."

Two candidate assumptions are proposed based on the text above:
I. The mandatory installation of electronic speed limiters will successfully prevent these buses from traveling faster than 80 km/h.
II. Driving at speeds exceeding 80 km/h is the sole cause of highway collisions involving inter-state commercial buses.

Which of the following options correctly identifies the assumption(s) implicit in the RTO's press release?

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

Answer

Only assumption I is implicit
Assumption I is logically implicit because the RTO's entire strategy to reduce collisions relies on the unstated premise that the electronic speed limiters will successfully perform their intended function. Assumption II is invalid because, although the text implies high speed is a contributing factor (hence the mandate to 'bring down' collision rates), it does not assume that speeding is the 'sole' cause of all such incidents.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the core objective and the mandated action presented in the statement.
The RTO's objective is to 'enhance passenger safety and bring down highway collision rates'. To achieve this, the action is mandating 'electronic speed limiters capped at 80 km/h'.
Identifying the cause-and-effect relationship intended by the author is strictly necessary to deduce their underlying assumptions.
2
Evaluate Assumption I strictly against the logic of the original statement.
Assumption I suggests the limiters will successfully cap the speed at 80 km/h. This is a required, unstated premise. If the RTO did not assume the devices would function as intended, mandating them would not achieve their stated safety objective.
An assumption is a premise that must be taken for granted for the statement's logic to hold true.
3
Evaluate Assumption II, paying close attention to qualitative modifiers and absolute language.
Assumption II claims that speeding over 80 km/h is the 'sole cause' of collisions. While the statement aims to 'bring down' (reduce) collisions, which assumes speed is a contributing factor, it does not logically assume speed is the only factor.
Extreme language (such as 'sole', 'only', 'always') in an assumption usually makes it logically invalid unless the original text explicitly supports such an absolute condition.

Key Concept

Evaluating Implicit Premises and Identifying Extreme Language Traps in Logical Reasoning
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Topics

Statement and Assumptions

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