In the next decade, a large percentage of municipalities throughout the country will experience power failures if they do not modernize their electrical substations. The vast majority of substations in the country already handle currents between 60% and 80% of their maximum capacity, and currents are expected to rise, perhaps by as much as a factor of 3 in the next decade, because of population increase and the increased demand from both industry and electronics in individual homes. Which of the following is an assumption of the above argument? A) An electrical substation fails when the current it handles rises above its maximum capacity. B) A modernized electric substation would be able to handle at least three times the amount of current as does a current substation. C) Ten years from now, the average household will own a greater number of electronic devices than does the average household today. D) Many electrical substations in operation today are old, and have several aged components that could break down, leading to power failures, even if current levels don't increase substantially. E) The cost of modernizing the substations is small compared to the average profits of electrical power companies.

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In the next decade, a large percentage of municipalities throughout

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egmat

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rak08

I eliminated B because
it says "large percentage will experience power failure" so even if modernized electric substation would be able to handle not atleast 3, say 2.5 yet its a better situation and doesnt break the core of the passage

mikemcgarry

am i on the right thought process?

rak08 Yes, you're. You've correctly identified that the argument states currents might increase "perhaps by as much as a factor of 3" - meaning \(3x\) is the maximum possible increase, not a guaranteed increase. The actual increase could be \(2x\), \(2.5x\), or anywhere up to \(3x\).

Strategic Framework for Assumption Questions

Since you're clearly at an intermediate/advanced level, here's a powerful decision framework:

The Negation Test: For each answer choice, negate it and see if the argument falls apart:

Negate A: "Substations DON'T fail when exceeding capacity" → Argument collapses
Negate B: "Modernized substations handle LESS than \(3x\) current" → Argument could still work (as you recognized!)

When you find the choice whose negation destroys the argument, you've found your answer.

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