Passage Analysis
•The average hourly wage of television assemblers in Vernland has long been significantly lower than that in neighboring Borodia.
o The remuneration per hour of television assemblers in Vernland, on average, has been considerably lower for a long a long time when compared to the wages of television assemblers in Borodia, which is a neighbouring country.
• Since Borodia dropped all tariffs on Vernlandian televisions three years ago,
o Borodia removed all the import taxes previously imposed on televisions from Vernland.
o This change was effected three years ago.
•the number of televisions sold annually in Borodia has not changed.
o Ever since that happened, the number of televisions sold in Borodia each year has remained constant.
•However, recent statistics show a drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia.
o But, it is observed that these days, the number of television assemblers in Borodia is on a decline.
• Therefore, updated trade statistics will probably indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased.
o Due to this, the latest reports on trade statistics are likely to show that the number of televisions imported to Borodia from Vernland annually has risen.
Conclusion: Updated trade statistics will probably indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased.Question Stem AnalysisWe are required to find the assumption necessary for the argument to hold.
Pre-thinking
Falsification QuestionIn what scenario is it possible that the updated trade statistics will probably not indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased?
Given that
• The average hourly wage of television assemblers in Vernland has long been significantly lower than that in neighboring Borodia.
• Since Borodia dropped all tariffs on Vernlandian televisions three years ago, the number of televisions sold annually in Borodia has not changed.
• Recent statistics show a drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia.
Thought ProcessThe author is trying to draw the conclusion based on the drop in number of television assemblers in Borodia and the consistent annual unit sales of television in the country. He thinks only an increase in the import of televisions from Vernland can close the gap of the discrepancy between these two numbers. But for that certain factors like the output per active television assembler in Borodia and the import of televisions from countries other than Vernland have to be assumed.
Falsification Conditions#1 and #2What if the Borodian television assemblers who still continue with the job are producing higher number of televisions? This could be because the assemblers’ production efficiency has increased or because they are working for more hours than before. In that case the conclusion cannot be drawn from the premises. Hence, two assumptions can be drawn from this condition.
Assumption#1The average number of televisions produced by Borodian television assemblers per unit time has not increased significantly.
Assumption#2The number of hours spent by Borodian television assemblers on work has not increased significantly.
Falsification Condition #3What if the drop in the supply of televisions in Borodia is met by importing televisions from countries other than Vernland? In that case too, the conclusion cannot hold even if the premises remain valid.
Assumption#3The shortage in supply of televisions at Borodia will be met by importing the item from Vernland.
Answer Choice Analysis
(A) The number of television assemblers in Vernland has increased by at least as much as the number of television assemblers in Borodia has decreased.
INCORRECTThis assumption is unnecessary for the conclusion to hold as this will not be necessary if Vernlandian television assemblers are already producing a significant surplus of television units. Hence, this is not the correct choice.
(B) Televisions assembled in Vernland have features that televisions assembled in Borodia do not have.
INCORRECTThis assumption is unnecessary as the features of the television do not affect the conclusion. Hence, this answer is incorrect.
(C) The average number of hours it takes a Borodian television assembler to assemble a television has not decreased significantly during the past three years.
CORRECTThis statement is in line with our assumption#1 even though the calculation is done with the reciprocal value. Hence, this is the correct answer.
(D) The number of televisions assembled annually in Vernland has increased significantly during the past three years.
INCORRECTThis assumption is also unnecessary for the argument to hold. Vernland only needs to have enough units to sell at Borodia to meet the country’s shortage in supply. The Vernlandians may already have a sufficiently high rate of assembly so that an increase in the same is unnecessary for the argument to hold.
(E) The difference between the hourly wage of television assemblers in Vernland and the hourly wage of television assemblers in Borodia is likely to decrease in the next few years.
INCORRECTEven if this assumption is negated, we can see that the conclusion need not be affected. The hourly wage of television assemblers in both the countries may be affected by many different factors, and we do not have any reason to assume this will happen. Hence this is not a correct answer choice.