A team of urban planning researchers observed that city neighborhoods that instituted mandatory minimum green space quotas ten years ago currently report significantly lower average ambient noise pollution levels than adjacent neighborhoods without such mandates. The researchers concluded that establishing mandatory green space minimums is an effective urban planning policy for directly dampening urban noise pollution in residential districts.
Which of the following is an assumption upon which the researchers' argument relies?
- The neighborhoods that enacted mandatory green space quotas ten years ago did not already have significantly lower ambient noise pollution levels than adjacent districts prior to the policy's implementation.Cevap
- BVegetation introduced to satisfy green space quotas absorbs high-frequency vehicular sounds more effectively than low-frequency industrial sounds.
- CMandatory green space quotas provide greater overall public health benefits to urban residents than alternative zoning regulations.
- DEstablishing and maintaining urban green spaces will remain affordable for municipal planning departments over the next decade.
- EIncreasing green space is the most cost-effective technique available to municipal authorities for reducing residential ambient noise.
Cevap
The argument assumes that the neighborhoods enacting green space quotas ten years ago were not already significantly quieter than adjacent neighborhoods prior to the policy's implementation.
The conclusion asserts a direct cause-and-effect relationship between green space quotas and noise reduction. For this causal claim to hold, the author must assume that the noise disparity did not already exist prior to the implementation of the quotas. Applying the Negation Test: if the quota neighborhoods were already quieter ten years ago before any green space was added, then the current lower noise levels cannot be attributed to the green space policy, thereby invalidating the author's conclusion.
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Negation Test for Underlying Assumptions in Causal Claims