Among those automobile mechanics who own their own garages and complet

Question

Among those automobile mechanics who own their own garages and completed a qualifying course at Main Street Technical School, 35% earn above $80,000 a year. Among those who own their own garages but did not complete the qualifying course at Main Street Technical School, only 10% earn above $80,000 a year. These figures indicate the importance of technical education in getting a higher salary.

The argument above depends on which of the following assumptions about the people mentioned in the statistics?

A. At least one-third of the group of people who did not complete the qualifying course would today be earning more than $80,000 a year if they had completed the course.

B. The group of people who did not complete the qualifying course and the group who did are comparable in terms of factors that determine how much people are paid.

C. Most of those people who did not complete the course did so entirely because of the cost of the course.

D. As a group, those persons who completed the course are more competent as mechanics than the group that did not.

E. The group of people who did not complete the qualifying course and who today earn more than $80,000 a year are more capable than the group that completed the course.

Scuven · Answer

It's a cause effect assumption question.

The cause is education, the effect is higher salary.

The assumption for the conclusion to be true is that education must be the ONLY cause, that every time the cause happens, the effect does too.

B might be tempting, We should ask our-selves, should graduated mechanics and not-graduated mechanics be comparable under factors for salary increase for the conclusion to be true? The answer I think it's yes, because if there are OTHER CAUSES then data are not comparable and thus the hypotized causal effect in the conclusion can't hold.

A on the other way might be tempting too, but if you try to negate you could say that "less than 1/3 of people increased their salary after graduating". It still suggest a causal - effect relationship even if it's weak. Thus B

chaitnya10 · Answer

B is our answer. Let's say that the location determines the wage rate for garages and all educated garage owners are in the area that pays the most. So, this weakens the conclusion.

B makes sure that we don't deviate to an alternate solution

kalyanchilaka · Answer

We can arrive at the solution through the process of elimination,

A. At least one-third of the group of people who did not complete the qualifying course would today be earning more than $80,000 a year if they had completed the course.- The argument concludes that education=>high salary, but does not suggest that education would definitely effect 1/3rd of the group  Eliminate

C. Most of those people who did not complete the course did so entirely because of the cost of the course. -Out of scope -Eliminate

D. As a group, those persons who completed the course are more competent as mechanics than the group that did not.- The argument does not mention anything related to competency of mechanics -Eliminate

E. The group of people who did not complete the qualifying course and who today earn more than $80,000 a year are more capable than the group that completed the course. The argument does not mention anything related to the capability of mechanics -Eliminate

Since A,C,D and E are eliminated B is correct.

ak2121 · Answer

Can you pls elaborate on how to eliminate A?
B is the answer that sounds better for sure, but I cannot come up with an apt reason to eliminate A.

Anupama_1090 · Answer

Hi,
I think it cannot be the answer as for A to happen we have to work out from the argument to determine this option and it looks to be an inference answer than an assumption answer. Assumption should be the hidden premise something that is not stated but must be necessary for the conclusion to hold true. Also if we calculate A it works out to somewhere 31.5% which is not 1/3rd as stated in the option A. Requesting expert reply on this.
Thank you.

catcun · Answer

egmat  if negated, doesn't A seem to be a more crucial assumption than B?

egmat · Answer

The real question isn't "Does it hurt?" but  "Can the argument survive without it?"

Negate B:  "The two groups are NOT comparable in pay-determining factors."
The argument  dies immediately . Maybe course-completers were already more experienced, talented, or worked in better markets. The 35% vs 10% difference proves nothing about the course itself.

Negate A:  "Fewer than one-third would benefit from taking the course."
The argument  survives . Okay, maybe only 20% would benefit instead of 33%. The education still matters - just less universally than implied. The gap between 35% and 10% can still show importance.

The Judge Test
   Scenario 1 (B is false):  "Your Honor, we're comparing elite mechanics to beginners. This comparison is worthless."
 → Case dismissed. No evidence.

Scenario 2 (A is false):  "Your Honor, maybe 20% benefit, not 33%."
 → Case continues. Education still matters, just debating how much.

vasu1104 · Answer

Conclusion- figure shows importance of technical edu in getting higher salary. 
 reason= with owning garage and completed course, 35% earn above 80000 year 
 with owning garage but not completing course, only 10% earn above 80000

A this somewhat strengthen it as well 
 B yup. if thats measuring factor then it make sense to make that assumption 
 C. cost is irrelevant 
 D it strengthen it 
 E wrong comparison

Among those automobile mechanics who own their own garages and complet

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Among those automobile mechanics who own their own garages and complet

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