aragonn wrote:
The two most popular external surfaces for homes in this state are brick and wood. In general, a brick exterior costs twice as much as a wood exterior to install. A major difference between these surfaces, however, is that wood exteriors need to be painted and repainted every five years or so, and even more frequently in areas with heavy rainfall. If people take into account the cost of painting and repainting, they will realize that a wood exterior is actually more expensive than brick over the lifetime of the house.
Which of the following is an assumption upon which the argument above relies?
A. The cost of painting and repainting a wooden house over its lifetime is at least equal to the cost of installing a wood exterior in the first place.
B. The average lifetime of a home in this state is 75 years.
C. A less expensive option than either wood or brick is a vinyl exterior, which does not require painting.
D. The cost of painting and repainting a wooden house over the expected lifetime of the house is equal to that of installing a brick exterior.
E. A wooden house that is not painted regularly will be subject to water damage, rot, and termite damage, which will decrease the resale value of the home.
Argument:
A brick exterior costs twice as much as a wood exterior to install. (Say wood installation - $x, Brick installation - $2x)
Wood exteriors need to be painted and repainted every five years or so
Conclusion: Accounting for re-painting, wood exterior is actually more expensive than brick over the lifetime of the house.
The author is saying that compared to brick ($2x installation cost), wood turns out to be more expensive overall i.e. more than $2x (counting the re-painting etc charges)
Since we know that the brick installation costs $x, this means that he is assuming that painting-re-painting charges will be more than $x (to be total more than $2x)
A. The cost of painting and repainting a wooden house over its lifetime is at least equal to the cost of installing a wood exterior in the first place.
He is assuming that cost of painting and repainting a wooden house is more than x (i.e. at least x). We know that cost of installing wood is $x.
So he is assuming that cost of re-painting is more than cost of wood installation.
D. The cost of painting and repainting a wooden house over the expected lifetime of the house is equal to that of installing a brick exterior.
This option is different. It says that cost of repainting (at least $x) is equal to cost of installing BRICK exterior ($2x).
But the author does not assume this. He assumes that cost of repainting is at least equal to cost of installing WOOD exterior ($x).
Incorrect
Other options are all irrelevant.
Answer (A)
AJ_1313captain0612 - This question is fine, nothing wrong here.