The average hourly wage of television assemblers in Vernland has long

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 Analysis
We are required to find the assumption necessary for the argument to hold.

Pre-thinking

Falsification Question
In 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 Process
The 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 #2
What 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#1
The average number of televisions produced by Borodian television assemblers per unit time has not increased significantly.
Assumption#2
The number of hours spent by Borodian television assemblers on work has not increased significantly.

Falsification Condition #3
What 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#3
The 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.
INCORRECT
This 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.
INCORRECT
This 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.
CORRECT
This 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.
INCORRECT
This 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.
INCORRECT
Even 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.

GMATNinja nightblade354
Although I'm able to get correct answers to such problems (700 level) in CR, I'm taking a lot of time (>2:30 mins and sometimes even 3:30 mins ).
If I try to rush (solve under 2 mins) my accuracy goes for a toss .
What are your recommendations to both get such questions right and increase my speed?
Please help.

Yeah, that's one of THE fundamental questions for a lot of GMAT test-takers when it comes to verbal, especially CR & RC. And there's no great answer, sadly.

I'm not sure if this will help, but there are two potential reasons why you're too slow on CR (or RC):

1. You're fundamentally a slow reader
2. Your approach to CR (or RC) questions is inefficient in some way

If #1 is your issue, then that's a tricky thing to improve on. If you're not a native English speaker -- or simply haven't done a lot of reading in your life -- then it's possible that more reading over a long period of time will help. It's also possible that you're struggling to focus on GMAT-style passages, and more practice will help improve your fundamental reading speed. But to a large extent, our reading speed is dependent on our visual processing speed -- and by the time we reach adulthood, that's unlikely to change much.

If #2 is the problem, that's more addressable for most test-takers. All of the fundamental techniques that we preach in our beginner's guides to CR and RC -- and all of the stuff we spout in our YouTube videos (full list here) -- are geared towards maximizing your efficiency.

I don't want to make it sound easy. Unfortunately, fully optimizing your process on CR and RC is a subtle and difficult thing to do. But my hope is that you have some inefficiencies in your approach, and if you can root those out, you'll see improvement in your times without sacrificing accuracy.

I hope that helps a bit!

Let’s look at the stimulus given-

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.
However, recent statistics show a drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia.

Conclusion-
Therefore, updated trade statistics will probably indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased.

To simplify the argument-
The demand for TV remains the same in Barodia,
The number of TV assemblers in Barodia has decreased.
Therefore the number of televisions Barodia imports annually from Vernland will probably increase.

We need to find the assumption of the argument.

(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.
The demand for television in Barodia - constant
No:of TV assemblers in Barodia- decreased
For Barodia to import more TVs from Vernland, the number of TV assemblers in Vernland does not have to increase. It can be the same as well. Option A cannot be an assumption on which the argument depends. Eliminate.

(B) Televisions assembled in Vernland have features that televisions assembled in Borodia do not have.
The conclusion- the number of televisions Barodia imports annually from Vernland will probably increase- is drawn on the basis of the fact that-
Since Borodia dropped all tariffs on Vernlandian televisions three years ago, the number of televisions sold annually in Borodia has not changed.
There is a drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia.
The difference in features of the television assembled in both countries is out of scope. Eliminate

(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.
If we negate this option,- The average number of hours it takes a Borodian television assembler to assemble a television has decreased significantly during the past three years.
This means that Borodian assemblers will be able to assemble more televisions. In that case, the conclusion that the number of televisions Barodia imports annually from Vernland will probably increase goes for a toss.
Correct.

(D) The number of televisions assembled annually in Vernland has increased significantly during the past three years.
Similar to option A- Does not impact the conclusion. Eliminate.

(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.
There is no data that leads to the assumption that 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. What may happen in the future is out of scope. Eliminate

.

ScottTargetTestPrep could you please explain this Argument?

My approach:
My objective of solving is to solve in the fastest way that I can but not at the cost of accuracy.

1) Understand the argument:
> The demand in B has not increased but number of assemblers has decreased thus, TVs are imported from V.

2) Pre-thinking:
> If the demand is met, that means supply is regular. Author concluded that supply is met through V without assessing other options of maintaining in supply.

3) Going through options:

>> This is just, in a way, strengthening the author's claim that TVs are imported from V. But how can this be an assumption? It cannot be.

>> Not relevant to maintaining the supply.

>> (Aha! Finally something that directly affects the efficiency/ the option of maintaining supply.) If the number of hours taken by assemblers in B has decreased, this mean less number of people can get the job done! Justifies the reduced numbers and still meeting the demand. Assuming that this has not happened implies that import was the only way to meet the demand.

>> The increase done not necessarily mean that it accommodated the demand in B. Moreover this is in no way related to other modes of meeting the demand.

>> (Blah, Blah and yes, Blah! ) How in the world would this affect the demand and supply relationship!

Confidently mark option C) and go to the next question!

The argument suggests that despite a drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia, the number of televisions imported annually from Vernland has increased. Therefore, the argument depends on an assumption that connects these two events. Let's evaluate each option to find the correct assumption:

Option (A) suggests that the number of television assemblers in Vernland has increased at least as much as the number of television assemblers in Borodia has decreased. However, this option does not explain why the number of televisions imported annually from Vernland has increased. Therefore, this option is not the correct assumption.

Option (B) is irrelevant to the argument and does not address the issue of why the number of televisions imported annually from Vernland has increased despite the drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia.

Option (C) suggests that the average number of hours it takes a Borodian television assembler to assemble a television has not decreased significantly during the past three years. This option suggests that the productivity of Borodian television assemblers has not improved, which means that they are not producing televisions at a faster rate. Therefore, the option supports the assumption that the decrease in the number of television assemblers in Borodia has led to an increase in the number of televisions imported annually from Vernland, making it the correct assumption.

Option (D) suggests that the number of televisions assembled annually in Vernland has increased significantly during the past three years. However, this option does not explain why the number of televisions imported annually from Vernland has increased despite the drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia.

Option (E) is also irrelevant to the argument and does not address the issue of why the number of televisions imported annually from Vernland has increased despite the drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia.

Therefore, the correct assumption on which the argument depends is option (C).

The argument assumes that since assemblers numbers decreased, the number of assembled TVs decreased consequently!

But there’s a scenario that, if was true, the argument will fall apart:
What if the assemblers in Borodia take significantly less time to assemble one tv? Then they will produce MORE TVs with LESS assemblers and the state won’t have to import TVs from another place.

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. However, recent statistics show a drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia. Therefore, updated trade statistics will probably indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased.

(1) The average hourly wage of television assemblers in Vernland has long been significantly lower than that in neighboring Borodia.
(2) Since Borodia dropped all tariffs on Vernlandian televisions three years ago, the number of televisions sold annually in Borodia has not changed.
(3) However, recent statistics show a drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia.
(4*) Assumption missing
_____________
(5) Therefore, updated trade statistics will probably indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased.

There is a lot going on in this argument. From average hourly rate to # of TVs sold & imported to # of assemblers and these make this argument difficult.
There are 3 elements in this argument

1- Hourly Wage (available in premise 1)
2- # of televisions sold/imported (available in premise 2 & conclusion)
3- # of assemblers (available in premise 3)

How did the author conclude that Borodia will import Tvs in the next futures?
1- Borodia labor cost is expensive
2- Borodia sells same number of TVs
3- No tariffs on imports
4- Labor size decreased
5- Hurray, definitely Borodia will import TVs next year to compensate for the loss of workers. (conclusion)

It seems like a good argument, although it is not prone to weaknesses. Prethinking the answer here is difficult, you can't simply predict what the assumption is. There are many assumptions that could be made:
1- Brodia impose new laws that prohibit importing from Verland
2- Brodia has advanced technology that allows manufacturing at less costs and more effiency
3- Verland inceases their prices so much
4- Brodia will import from other countries
etc

There are two kinds of assumptions (from Critical Reasoning Bible book)
1- Supporter Assumption: closes the gaps by linking elements together and can be sometimes prethinked
2- Defender Assumption: protects the argument by eliminating ideas that could weaken the argument.



Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?


(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.
This strengthen the conclusion that Verland has more labor than Borodia which may lead to cheaper prices and thus more exports to Borodia

(B) Televisions assembled in Vernland have features that televisions assembled in Borodia do not have.
Features are out of scope and irrelevant to the conclusion.

(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.
This looks like a new element added to the argument. A new information. If we put this back into (4*) at the beginning of this post, this actually defends the argument and can safely allow the author to conclude that there will be imports. Let's see:

How did the author conclude that Borodia will import Tvs in the next futures?
1- Borodia labor cost is expensive
2- Borodia sells same number of TVs
3- No tariffs on imports
4- Labor size decreased in Borodia
5 (assumption)- Time to assemble a TV in Borodia stays the same
____
5- Hurray, definitely Borodia will import TVs next year to compensate for the loss of workers. (conclusion)

In other words, if Borodia takes 1% the time it takes Verland to manufacture 1 Tv, then this could lead to efficient manufacturing in terms of time and costs, and there will be no need to import.


(D) The number of televisions assembled annually in Vernland has increased significantly during the past three years.
This also stregthen the argument. More Tvs in Verland could mean more exports to Borodia

(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.
If the wage difference is likely to decrease, then either Verland hours wage will increase OR Borodian hourly wage will decrease. Either way, this looks promising to Borodia and may not require them to import as prices of TVs may be similar.
If we negate this choice, "The difference will likely increase or stay the same" then this has no effect on the conclusion that Borodia is going to import from Verland

Hi GMATNinja egmat KarishmaB IanStewart

I had got this one correct with the right reasoning.
I wanted to check, can we also have a second less important assumption that there is no TV exporter other than Vernland?
If above is the case, then we will have a great doubt on the conclusion "the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased" despite the drop in the number of television assemblers in Borodia and largely same productivity of assemblers. Please let me know your thoughts.

Yes, there are many possible assumptions here, and in most assumption questions, and you have identified another one: the argument assumes Borodia did not significantly increase tv imports from other unmentioned countries.

Rereading this thread, I seem to have made an earlier post, which no longer makes much sense (it must have been a reply to another comment that has been moved or removed), and which didn't explain the logic of the question. This is a tricky version of a very standard GMAT CR situation, where one measure is used as a proxy for another: here the number of tv assemblers in Borodia is used to guess the number of tv's produced in Borodia. The argument assumes those two things are correlated, but if tv assemblers got a lot faster, fewer assemblers could make the same number of tv's.

While the logic here is standard, the tricky part is finding the logical leap (from number of assemblers to number of tv's) in the dense question stem.