kingb wrote:
1. “ on the whole,” Ms. Dennis remarked, “ engineering students are lazier now than they used to be. I know because fewer and fewer of my students regularly do the work they are assigned.
The conclusion drawn above depends on which of the following assumptions?
a. Engineering students are working less because, in a booming market, they are spending more and more time investigating different job opportunities.
b. Whether or not students do the work they are assigned is a good indication of how lazy they are.
c. Engineering students should work harder than students in less demanding fields.
d. Ms. Dennis’ students are doing less work because Ms. Dennis is not as effective a teacher as she once was.
e. Laziness is something most people do not outgrow.
Let us look at the options.
Option A: Engineering students are working less because, in a booming market, they are spending more and more time investigating different job opportunities.
Nothing is actually mentioned in the argument on how engineering students spend their time.
Hence Option A is incorrect.Option B: Whether or not students do the work they are assigned is a good indication of how lazy they are.
Ms. Dennis seems to conclude about the laziness of engineering students by observing the change in the number of students who do the assigned work regularly.
Option B is correct.Option C: Engineering students should work harder than students in less demanding fields.
Nothing about "less demanding fields" has been mentioned. Irrelevant.
Option C is incorrect.Option D: Ms. Dennis’ students are doing less work because Ms. Dennis is not as effective a teacher as she once was.
This can be a reason for the decrease in the number of students who complete their assigned work regularly. However, this is not the assumption made by Ms. Dennis.
Hence Option D is incorrect. Option E: Laziness is something most people do not outgrow.
This too is not the assumption made in drawing the conclusion.
Hence Option E is incorrect. So Option B is the correct answer.