Environmentalist: An increased number of oil spills and the consequent

Question

Environmentalist: An increased number of oil spills and the consequent damage to the environment indicate the need for stricter safety standards for the oil industry. Since the industry refuses to take action, it is the national government that must regulate industry safety standards. In particular, the government has to at least require oil companies to put double hulls on their tankers and to assume financial responsibility for accidents.

Industry representative: The industry alone should be responsible for devising safety standards because of its expertise in handling oil and its understanding of the cost entailed. Implementing the double-hull proposal is not currently feasible because it creates new safety issues. Furthermore, the cost would be burdensome to the industry and consumers.

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

(A) The only effective sources of increased stringency in safety standards for oil tankers are action by the industry itself or national government regulation.

(B) The requirement of two hulls on oil tankers, although initially costly, will save money over time by reducing cleanup costs.

(C) The oil industry’s aging fleet of tankers must either be repaired or else replaced.

(D) Government safety regulations are developed in a process of negotiation with industry leaders and independent experts.

(E) Environmental concerns outweigh all financial considerations when developing safety standards.

Bunuel · Answer

Check out TWIN assumption question here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/environmenta ... 14921.html

IanStewart · Answer

When the environmentalist says "since the industry refuses to take action, it is the national government that must regulate industry safety standards", the environmentalist is assuming that only the industry and the national government can take actions to regulate safety standards, so A is the answer. Most of the rest of the question is a distraction.

Kritisood · Answer

(A) The only effective sources of increased stringency in safety standards for oil tankers are action by the industry itself or national government regulation.

(B) The requirement of two hulls on oil tankers, although initially costly, will save money over time by reducing cleanup costs.   
 
(C) The oil industry’s aging fleet of tankers must either be repaired or else replaced.

(D) Government safety regulations are developed in a process of negotiation with industry leaders and independent experts.   
 
(E) Environmental concerns outweigh all financial considerations when developing safety standards.

Fdambro294 · Answer

The argument presents a classic Informal Logical Fallacy called the “False Dichotomy.”

Whenever an author says that X won’t work so we MUST do Y, he or she is inherently assuming there are no other ways to get the job done other than X or Y.

This is exactly what the environmentalist does in the argument. This author argues that since the industry won’t take responsibility for regulating itself, the national government MUST impose the stated regulations.

-A- accurately describes this fallacy and it must be a require Assumption in order for the argument to be valid.

And with respect to answer E, I haven’t completed a GMAT question with this kind of “trick”, but I’m sure they could do it (to make sure you are reading the questions fully).

The question asks about the environmentalist’s assumption. As  IanStewart  pointed out, everything beyond the argument presented by the environmentalist is effectively irrelevant.

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Environmentalist: An increased number of oil spills and the consequent

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Environmentalist: An increased number of oil spills and the consequent

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