Official Solution:
International Policy Adviser: People over the age of 65 are underrepresented in the government of Country X. Because the government sets the country's policy priorities and passes new laws, the underrepresentation of people over the age of 65 results in a significant lack of consideration for issues important to this age group, such as pensions, age-related welfare, and employment discrimination; only an increase in the number of government officials will solve the problem.
Which of the following best describes an assumption implicit to the international policy adviser's argument?
A. A significant increase in the size of Country X's government would be required in order to increase the representation of people over the age of 65 in the government.
B. A significant increase in the representation of people over the age of 65 in Country X's government would result in an increase in the consideration for issues affecting people in this age group.
C. A significant increase in funding toward educating the government about issues affecting people over age 65 would result in more serious consideration for issues affecting people in this age group.
D. A significant increase in funding for adult education targeted to people over age 65 would result in an increase in the number of such people in Country X's government.
E. A significant increase in the representation of people over the age of 65 in Country X's government would have to precede any increase in the number of high-ranking government officials who are over the age of 65.
The adviser is arguing that there are few people over the age of 65 in the government of a certain country, so little consideration is given to issues affecting people in this age group.
If the relative lack of people over the age of 65 in government leads to a relative lack of consideration for issues affecting people in this age group, then there is an assumption that increasing the representation should increase the consideration given to issues affecting people over the age of 65.
Choice B states that an increase in over-65 representation in the government would result in an increase in consideration for issues affecting people in this age group. This statement properly identifies a conclusion that can reasonably be drawn from the given information: Since lack of representation leads to lack of consideration, more representation leads to more consideration. Although this choice looks suspiciously like a false contrapositive, it is in fact an implicit assumption made by the policy adviser. Choice
B is correct.
Choice A states that an increase in the size of the government would be necessary to increase the representation of people over 65. It does not follow from the given information that the government would have to be enlarged to increase over-65 representation.
Choice C claims that educating the government about certain issues would result in more serious consideration. The argument in the prompt specifically states that the reason for the lack of consideration is the lack of
people over 65 in government, not a lack of
understanding about the issues affecting them.
Choice D claims that funding education for older people would result in an increase in representation. The argument in the prompt does not support this claim, because it does not claim that a lack of education is the reason for the underrepresentation.
Choice E states that an increase in the representation of people over age 65 in government would have to occur before an increase in the number of high-ranking government officials over the age of 65. This is not necessarily true; the few people over 65 currently in government could become high-ranking officials before a "significant increase" in representation occurred.
Answer: B
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