imaru wrote:
Lawmaker: Raising taxes is the the only means of reducing government debt. The government's stockpile of helium is worth 25 percent more, at current market prices, than the debt accumulated in acquiring and storing it. Therefore, by selling helium, the government can not only pay off that debt but reduce its overall debt as well.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argement depends?
a. The government has no current need for helium.
b. 25 percent of the debt the government has accumulated in stockpiling helium is not an insignificant portion of the government's total debt.
c. It is not in the lawmaker's interest to advocate raising taxes as a means of reducing government debt.
d. Attempts to sell the government's helium will not depress the market price of helium by more than 25 percent.
e. The government will not incur any costs in closing its facilities for stockpiling helium.
The conclusion of the lawmakers statement is that the overall debt of the nation can be reduced by selling of the helium.
The fact that present market value of the stored helium is 25% higher is the evidence presented.
The first part of the stimuli - Raising taxes .... its a consideration raised and is not the conlclusion. If one treats this as the conclusion, then subsequent evidence is int he opposite direction of the argument since reduction in the national debt by selling of helium will not necessitate the increase in tax as well. Hence C is wrong.
a and e are totally irrelevant to the conclusion.
d is right because, applying negaton it would prove that the national debt will not be reduced.
b is a possible inference, but is not the underlying assumption. There will be a reduction in national debt, irrespective of significance of the portion that will be reduced.
Hence d.