The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smal

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QUESTION #15:

The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smallville. The governing council of the town believes that associating the town with the famous birthplace of Superman, the legendary comic book hero, will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents with immediate increases in income.

The town council’s argument depends on the assumption that

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism

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E

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b9n920 · Accepted Answer

The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smallville. The governing council of the town believes that associating the town with the famous birthplace of Superman, the legendary comic book hero, will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents with immediate increases in income.

The town council’s argument depends on the assumption that

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism

Conclusion: The name change will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents with immediate increases in income.

Pre-thinking: Possible assumptions could be:
 1. The new name will not act adversely and repel the tourists.
 2. The name change is possible legally, i.e. the comic book won't pose a legal roadblock etc.
 3. The increase in tourism will actually provide the residents an immediate increases in income.
 4. The name change will not affect the residents so adversely that they have to spend more than they make.
 etc.

POE:
A. It doesn't matter whether people agree or not as far as their income increases.
B. Doesn't matter, similar to A.
C. The town can spend more if their is a promise of even greater returns.
D. Other towns are outside the scope of the argument. 
E. Correct. Matches with pre-think assumption 4.

Ans: E.

Skywalker18 · Answer

Name change of the town -->will increase tourism and immediate increases in income.

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change
Irrelevant , even if we negate this , it doesn't break the conclusion
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books
The tourists need to have knowledge about comic books and superman . Resident's knowledge is out of scope.
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists
Even if the town needs to spend a hefty amount of money to provide facilities for tourist , as long as the net profit is higher
there should not be an issue.
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism
Out of scope
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism
If we negate this the arugument falls apart. If the per capita cost to residents of changing town's name will be more than per
capita revenue that will result from tourism , then the argument falls apart. There is no point in changing the name .

Answer E

mvictor · Answer

This is an assumption type of question:

Let's analyze the argument:
L is considering to change name to S.
S is associated with SM

the change will lead to increase in T, thus immediate increase in income.

What a dumb move, Lawrence is known for being the hometown of Winchester family :D
Anyways:
Income = Revenue - Costs
L must be assuming that the income would be immediate, but will it be so? What if the citizens of L would have to support immediate costs to switch their paperwork from L to S? If this is so, then we definitely need to know whether the increase in in revenues would be greater than the increases of costs.

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change 
regardless of whether the people agree with the name change or not, this cannot deny the fact that increased tourism would lead to an increase in income.

B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books 
even if they are not, that does not mean the tourists would not come to town.

C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists 
even if the town would need to spend more to provide the facilities needed by tourists, that would not influence whether the resident's immediate income would increase.

D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism 
this is a strengthener. Even if we negate this argument, we can see that there might be a flaw, since the other towns did not change the name to Smallville, a city known as the hometown of Superman.
 
 E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism 
Aha! this is what we are looking for!
We can see that the costs are less than the revenue - then definitely, there would be an increase. Let's try to negate it! If the costs are higher than the revenues, there is no way the plan would work.

So far, E is the best answer.

youneverknow · Answer

Argument is 'Changing name will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents with  immediate  increases in income'

(A) Does not address the argument at all. The argument starts after change is applied. The viability of the statement is not undermined if people don't agree to change name. 
(B) Trap option. It talks about Residents of the  town . If it were about outside world, it would be the answer. However, since it talks about people from same town, it suffers from similar issue as in option A.
(C) They may spend minimal, but would they gain profits? Find out on the next episode of The Flash! We don't know.
(D) The argument does not assume that. Moreover, changing names' trend does not necessarily apply to Superman name as well. This is a strengthening option, but does not address the argument's assumption. It has to be something on which the conclusion depends.

(E) The entire statement screams profit and also mentions increase in tourism

So E.

Kurtosis · Answer

The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smallville. The governing council of the town believes that associating the town with the famous birthplace of Superman, the legendary comic book hero, will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents with immediate increases in income.

Conclusion: Naming the town with the birthplace of Superman will increase tourism and lead to an increase in income of town's residents.

The town council’s argument depends on the assumption that

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change - Irrelevant
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books - Not residents, rather the tourists have to be knowledgeable about comic books.
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists - We are concerned about the increase in income after renaming the town. This option talks just about the investment. 
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism - Irrelevant.
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism - Revenue = Income - Expenses. From this option we get to know that the income increases. Negating E breaks the conclusion.

Answer: E

FightToSurvive · Answer

E for me!!! As it is clearly assumed that the revenue will increase leading to higher income and the cost incurred will be less.

tarunk31 · Answer

The argument is that

name change---> increase in tourism ---> increase in income

Prethinking : 
Treat it as goal-plan type of question. Here goal is increase in income. Plan is to change the name of the town therefore increase in tourism.

What is the assumption required to believe that plan will achieve the goal or a change of name will lead to an increase in income.

One simple assumption that comes out is that expenses for changing the name will be less than the revenue from tourism so that we have a net increase in income.

Let's do the POE

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change
 Here we are just supporting the plan but it is not an assumption as income or revenue is not even considered in this option.
 
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books
 Out of scope. Fist comic books is a broad term. The argument only discus the town of Superman! Even if they are not knowledgeable, may be tourists who visit the town do know about comic books and hence the name of town.

C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists
 Let's negate this option and see if it weakens the argument. So even if the town will need to spend more than a minimal amount. It can not be concluded that income won't increase. Maybe even after spending a substantial amount, the net result is an increase in income.
 
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism
 Out of scope. What applies to other towns may or may not apply to this town.
 
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism
  This is correct. Let's negate this option and see if it weakens the argument. If the cost to residents will not be less than the increase in revenue then there will not be any increase in income. This weakens the argument as we also discussed in prethinking.

Ans. E

ALINA93 · Answer

conclusione:....." will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents  with immediate increases in income. "

The town council’s argument depends on the assumption that:

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change (not relevant)
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books (not relevant)
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists (not relevant)
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism ( this could be---but comparing with other towns it's not the best assumption for increase the income.... i hope)
 E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism  (this show that the revenue will be bigger than cost, so there will be a profit, ... i know that maybe it's a bit flaw beacuse they could gain some profit but not increase income. however using elimination I remain with D and E, and i try E )

Suzie · Answer

The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smallville. The governing council of the town believes that associating the town with the famous birthplace of Superman, the legendary comic book hero, will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents with immediate increases in income.

The town council’s argument depends on the assumption that

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism

The conclusion states that by changing the town's name, tourism will increase and the town will see immediate increases in income. I think assumption is choice C. If the town has to spend a lot in enabling tourism, they may not see 'immediate' increase in net income.

kplusprinja1988 · Answer

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books--we are concerned with tourist
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists--Nothing about facilities has been talked about
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism--we are not concerned about other towns
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism

I am stuck between A and E.But since we are concerned with Tourist i will go with E as the revenues of the city will increase because of it

sharmarahul12 · Answer

Answer should be 'B'. Reason behind this is that if residents are knowledgeable about Superman then there will not be any contradiction of the city name with its residents.

khoathanglong · Answer

E for me,
Negate E: 
+if no->not increase income
+if yes-> increase income

rakshithbabu · Answer

The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smallville. The governing council of the town believes that associating the town with the famous birthplace of Superman, the legendary comic book hero, will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents with immediate increases in income.

The town council’s argument depends on the assumption that
 We have to find a choice that asserts that the town council's prediction of increase in residents income. 
A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change
 Irrelevent. 
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books
 Irrelevent 
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists
 too far 
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism
 Irrelevent 
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism
 Correct

Ans: E

HKD1710 · Answer

Conclusion : Change in Name of town --> Increase Tourism --> Income of residents will increase immidiately

Assumption : following are the key points to remember for this type of CR question:
The answer choice taht would state what would help the conclusion to hold will be our assumption. 
In other words The correct assumption is the choice that would defend the conclusion from any attack. thats why it is defender assumption question.
In order to verify that our answer choice is correct we can do the negation test i.e. Negating the answer choice should make the conclusion fall apart.

Now let us look at each choice:

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change -  wrong 
Does the agreement among people has anything to do with governing council's decision? No!

B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books -  wrong 
it is more important that the tourists are knowledgeable about the comic books than the residents are.

C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists -  wrong 
This option does not tell us anything about income. Even if the residents spend less to fecilitate the tourists it is not certain that their income would increase significantly.

when we Negate the assumption i.e. "the town will need to spend only a HEAVY amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists" 
the "what resident spend > what residents earn (income)", which is opposite to the conclusion.

D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism -  wrong 
What is true for other towns may or may not be true for Kansas. The reasons can be the facilities, nature and other requirements of tourism may already be in place in those towns but in "kansas" it may not be the case.
 
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism -  correct 
In order to conclude that income of the residents will increase, It is necessary to assume that the COST to that resident to bring this change would be LESS than the INCOME. 
If the cost is high then income will be less, hence negating the choice here breaks the conclusion.

vas4869 · Answer

The most suitable answer IMHO: C.
I am tired of getting my answers wrong on CR.

AmoyV · Answer

The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smallville. The governing council of the town believes that associating the town with the famous birthplace of Superman, the legendary comic book hero, will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents with immediate increases in income.

The town council’s argument depends on the assumption that

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change  The argument claims that the name change will increase income of the people. Whether the people will agree to the name change is not in our scope. OFS. 
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books  Even though they are not, how would it matter? If they can make some income inspite of not being knowledgeable about comics then we have a our case strengthened.  
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists  Even if the town needs to make a substantial expenditure to provide facilities, it doesnt matter as long as the town is able to make an income out of it. 
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism  The dynamics of the other towns could be differnent to Lawrence, Kansas and hence what is successful there may not be successful here. 
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism  We can see that the cost is lower than the revenues, so the town will make profits/income from the proposal. On the flip side, if this were not to the true and the town's costs are greater than or equal to the revenues earned, then the proposal should be trashed. Since this option can sway the conclusion to extremes, it is an assumption on which the argument depends. Correct.

Answer: E

tronghieu1987 · Answer

The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smallville. The governing council of the town believes that associating the town with the famous birthplace of Superman, the legendary comic book hero, will increase tourism and provide the town’s residents with immediate increases in income.

The town council’s argument depends on the assumption that

The argument is that the tourism will boost and the residents' income will increase as a result of changing the name of the town. In order to come to this prediction, one of assumptions that the council must assume is that the residents' income will not be hurt significantly directly or indirectly by the process of changing name (to a degree that the ultimate income will be lower).   The correct answer is E

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change 
The argument is about the result of changing the town's name if it is implemented. So the agreement (or disagreement) of people in the town to this idea does not affect the argument =>Incorrect

B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books 
The knowledge about comic books is not necessary. The changing still could bring additional income to them even if they don't know about comic books. =>Incorrect

C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists 
The argument is about the residents' income, not the whole town's income. Also, even if the town will have to spend a huge amount of money on tourist facilities, the income could still be much much more. => Incorrect

D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism 
The successes (or failures) of other towns are not a condition for the council in order to come to the argument. This choice could only serve as a strengthener to the argument, not an assumption => Incorrect

E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism 
 This is the correct answer.  This choice gives the protection to the argument as it eliminates a possible weakener. When negating this choice, it becomes that even if the revenue from the tourism increases, the residents' net income could be lower because they have to spend more money on this name-changing project.

sri1sastra · Answer

Argument: Considering name change to Smallville
Premise (Reason Why?) - Because the name associates itself with birthplace of Superman, it will increase tourism and provide increased income for town people. 
Assumption can be any of below
1)The tourists are familiar with new name Smallville.
2)The change in name doesn't incur more expenses than the new income coming from tourists because of name change which is given in option E. So option E is the answer.

A. the people in the town are agreeable to the name change -  Doesn't have anything related to income. Therefore out of scope. 
B. residents in the town are knowledgeable about comic books -  Even if residents are not knowledgeable, but if the tourists are knowledgeable about Smallville, the tourists will still come and increase revenue. So this assumption is not true. 
C. the town will need to spend only a minimal amount to provide the facilities needed by tourists -  This doesn't have anything to do with the increased revenue generated by the increased arrival of new tourists. So not correct. 
D. other towns have successfully changed their names and developed an increase in tourism -  Even if other towns have implemented this and been succesful, it doesn't mean the same will apply to this town as well. for instance the tourists may not be familiar with name Smallville. So not correct. 
E. the per capita cost to the residents of changing the town’s name will be less than the per capita revenue that will result from the increase in tourism -  Correct choice. Explanation above.

So answer is choice E

devvratk · Answer

E it is as the conclusion is per capita income of villagers will increase.Only E is relevant

The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smal

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The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is considering changing its name to Smal

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