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Difficulty: MediumStatement and Assumptions

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

Statement:
To encourage the use of public transport and reduce vehicular pollution, the city administration has announced a 50% reduction in metro train fares on weekends.

Assumptions:
I. The current metro train network connects all the major residential areas of the city.
II. A significant number of citizens currently use their personal vehicles on weekends for travel within the city.

Which of the following correctly identifies the implicit assumption(s)?

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

Answer

Only assumption II is implicit
The correct answer identifies that only the second assumption is necessary. The city's action aims to reduce vehicular pollution by cutting weekend metro fares. For this to work, it is a necessary underlying premise that people are currently using personal, pollution-causing vehicles on weekends. The first assumption is invalid because it uses extreme language ('all major residential areas'); the policy can be effective even with limited metro coverage.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the core statement and its intended goal.
The goal is to reduce vehicular pollution and increase public transport use via weekend fare reductions.
Identifying the cause-and-effect relationship proposed by the administration is necessary to evaluate the underlying premises.
2
Evaluate Assumption I.
Assumption I is not implicit because the word 'all' makes it an extreme condition. The policy could still reduce pollution even if the metro only serves some areas.
An assumption must be a logically necessary premise, not just a desirable external condition.
3
Evaluate Assumption II.
Assumption II is implicit. If citizens do not use personal vehicles on weekends, lowering weekend metro fares would not reduce vehicular pollution.
For the proposed solution to address the problem, the problem (weekend vehicular pollution) must actually exist.

Key Concept

Statement and Assumptions
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Topics

Statement and Assumptions

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