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Sub 505 (Easy)|   Assumption|      
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Bunuel
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Veterinarians reported a decrease in the rate of visits by sick cats 31 Jan 2024, 02:30
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84% (00:44) correct 16% (01:02) wrong based on 302 sessions

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Veterinarians reported a decrease in the rate of visits by sick cats last year. It can be concluded that the health level of the pet cat population is improving.

The argument's conclusion relies on which of the following assumptions?

A. Veterinarians also reported a decrease in the rate of visits of sick dogs.

B. Cat owners took their cats to the vet whenever the cats were sick.

C. Fewer cats died last year than two years ago.

D. The quality of cat food improved.

E. Siamese cats are healthier now than they were in the past.

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B
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PranavVyas
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Veterinarians reported a decrease in the rate of visits by sick cats 31 Jan 2024, 08:22
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Veterinarians reported a decrease in the rate of visits by sick cats last year. It can be concluded that the health level of the pet cat population is improving.

The argument's conclusion relies on which of the following assumptions?

A. Veterinarians also reported a decrease in the rate of visits of sick dogs.- not directly related to the health of cats Incorrect

B. Cat owners took their cats to the vet whenever the cats were sick. -directly depends on the assumption
-Correct

C. Fewer cats died last year than two years ago. -not directly related to sickness.-Incorrect


D. The quality of cat food improved.- Related on cat,not quality of cat food.-Incorrect

E. Siamese cats are healthier now than they were in the past.- Not necessary the overall cat population is healthier, argument is about the health of the entire cat population, not specific breedIncorrect

IMO- B
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Veterinarians reported a decrease in the rate of visits by sick cats 31 Jan 2024, 12:19
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Correct option should be B

let's analyse options:

A. Talks about pet dogs - completely out of context

C. Fewer cats died last year than two years ago - doesn't necessarily indicate the improvement in health level of pet cats. Deaths could have been caused due to different accidents too.

D. The quality of cat food improved - doesn't guarantee improved health levels of pets. Also talking about pet food which is slightly out of context.

E. Talks about Siamese cats - Siamese cats are a breed of cats. It doesn't represent the whole cat community. Out of context.

B. Cat owners took their cats to the vet whenever the cats were sick - because of the cat owners' sincereness, pet cats are now healthy as they have been treated timely. Looks good.

Hence. correct option should be B
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Veterinarians reported a decrease in the rate of visits by sick cats 04 Feb 2024, 18:45
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



Veterinarians reported a decrease in the rate of visits by sick cats last year. It can be concluded that the health level of the pet cat population is improving.

The argument's conclusion relies on which of the following assumptions?


A. Veterinarians also reported a decrease in the rate of visits of sick dogs.

Incorrect.

To solve this Assumption question, first break down the argument. Sentence 1 presents factual information (notice the word reported), so it's a premise. Sentence 2 uses the conclusion word concluded so we can be sure that it's the conclusion.

Now ask yourself: the author believes that pet cats are healthier than they were before, based upon the veterinarians' report alone. What must the author assume for this argument to stand?

Dogs are outside the scope of the argument. The assumption needs to connect the premise to the conclusion. This answer choice, by stating another reported fact by veterinarians, is connected to the premise but is not connected to the argument's conclusion (the health level of the pet cat population is improving).


B. Cat owners took their cats to the vet whenever the cats were sick.

If the author does not assume that the owners took their cats to the vet whenever they were sick, then the veterinarians' report loses its relevance since there could have been more sick cats than before - the veterinarians just wouldn't know about them. Since the conclusion is based on the number of visits reported by veterinarians, the author must assume that these visits represent every time a cat was sick.


C. Fewer cats died last year than two years ago.

Incorrect.

To solve this Assumption question, first break down the argument. Sentence 1 presents factual information (notice the word reported), so it's a premise. Sentence 2 uses the conclusion word concluded so we can be sure that it's the conclusion.

Now ask yourself: the author believes that pet cats are healthier than they were before, based upon the veterinarians' report alone. What must the author assume for this argument to stand?

Death was mentioned in neither the premise nor the conclusion. Therefore, death is outside the scope of this argument, which deals with sickness versus health. The assumption needs to be hidden within the argument, meaning that it must directly connect between the premise and the conclusion.


D. The quality of cat food improved.

Incorrect.

Cat food was mentioned in neither the premise nor the conclusion, so it's unlikely that the author assumed anything about the cats' nutrition. The assumption needs to be hidden within the argument, meaning that it must directly connect between the premise and the conclusion.


E. Siamese cats are healthier now than they were in the past.

Incorrect.

The argument deals with cats in general, not just Siamese cats. Remember, you should be looking for the assumption that links the given premise to the conclusion. Since Siamese cats are not mentioned in either, they cannot logically be a part of this link.
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