Bunuel
Residents of Cordoba County who receive unemployment benefits are allowed to attend courses on job search skills at the local community college at no charge. In addition, the unemployment benefits office offers free assistance with résumé writing. Many retail employees were recently laid off due to the closure of five Boxia Stores locations. Of the affected employees, those who live in Cordoba County will certainly not rely solely on their own resources as they look for new jobs.
Which of the following is an assumption that is required for the conclusion of the argument?
(A) If an unemployed worker has access to job search resources, the worker will take advantage of those resources.
(B) Retail employees have more difficulty finding new jobs are being laid off than do workers in other occupations.
(C) In Cordoba County, the usual cost for job search skills courses and résumé writing assistance is too great for most people to afford.
(D) When it closed several locations, Boxia Stores laid off some employees who will have difficulty finding new employment if they do not receive assistance.
(E) The job search skills courses at the local community college and the résumé-writing assistance offered at the unemployment benefits office are usually helpful for individuals seeking employment.
KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:
STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPEThe question stem asks for an “assumption,” so this is an Assumption question. The correct answer will be something the author does not say that must be true for the author’s conclusion to follow from the evidence provided.
STEP 2: UNTANGLE THE STIMULUSThe author makes a strong prediction about the future with the language “will certainly”: the author claims that certain recently unemployed people will get help finding jobs. The evidence is the two forms of no-cost job search assistance that are offered to these folks.
STEP 3: PREDICT THE ANSWERThe evidence is about assistance that is available, but the conclusion is an unqualified prediction that they will use that assistance. Thus, the author is assuming that if help is offered, it will be taken. To put this in perspective, consider that you have probably received many free offers that you’ve declined for one reason or another.
STEP 4: EVALUATE THE CHOICES(A) matches the prediction and is correct. (B) is an irrelevant comparison between the laid-off workers in the stimulus and other workers who are not a subject of this argument. (C) discusses job search services that are not free, but the argument is based only on the use of free services. (D) speaks to how hard it may be for some workers to find new jobs, but the argument is about whether they’ll use job search services, not about whether their job search will be fruitful. (E) is wrong for a similar reason as (D): if the assistance offered is known to be helpful, this knowledge might influence unemployed people to use it—but it also might not. There may be other factors that people weigh when deciding whether to use the assistance. A choice that requires you to make a further assumption is not the correct answer to an Assumption question.