The result of a survey showed that vegetarianism is gaining popularity

Question

The result of a survey showed that vegetarianism is gaining popularity worldwide at a pace faster than in the previous decade. In the East, many people have stopped visiting restaurants specializing in meat dishes. The reduced number of customers and the overall publicity of vegetarianism resulted in huge losses for several restaurants that were forced to close their business. The restaurants in the remaining part of the world may also go out of business pretty soon.

Which of the following is a necessary assumption of the above conclusion?

A. Non-vegetarian restaurants do not serve quality vegetarian dishes.
B. The number of converts to vegetarianism is on the up all over the world, and not just in some regions.
C. Socio-economic conditions, food preferences, and climatic factors are more or less similar in all parts of the world.
D. The disposable income of many families has been greatly reduced due to the current global recession.
E. The customer dissatisfaction is not temporary.

DishaAgarwal12 · Answer

A. Even if they do, they might still close
B. Even if on the up in some regions, restaurants would still go out of business 
C. Yes, because if similar to east, then same conditions apply
D. Nothing to do with vegetarianism
5. Even if temporary- we dont know how long and might still cause shutting down

namanqqkm · Answer

so confused, i chose B but the OA is C whyyyy??? like why not B i get C but dont you think for the survey results to hold the survey shouldnt be bias or should have people contribute to it from all over the world and not just few regions and then that assumption will support the conclusion.

okay why not C, lets say, the prevailing conditions are similar in all parts of the world. but do we know that the conditions are the cause for people to convert to veg? i verified this info from the question and i didnt get any ans. so acc to me c tells us reason for people to convert. maybe conditions are that favor non veg but its the people's own decision thats opposite.

can someone pls hlp me with this.  egmat

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

The  conclusion  is making a  generalization  from the East to the rest of the world:

Because meat-focused restaurants closed in the East due to vegetarianism, restaurants elsewhere may also go out of business soon.

For this inference to work, the argument  must assume  that the relevant conditions are similar in other parts of the world. Otherwise, what happened in the East tells us nothing about elsewhere.

A.  Not required. Even if non-veg restaurants do serve good vegetarian food, the conclusion could still follow.

B.  This is too strong. The conclusion says  “may go out of business,”  not that vegetarianism is rising everywhere.

C.  This is all good. If socio-economic conditions, food preferences, and other relevant factors were very different elsewhere, the East’s experience wouldn’t justify predicting closures in other regions.

D.  This is Irrelevant. The argument links closures to vegetarianism, not income.

E.  Not necessary. Even temporary dissatisfaction could still cause short-term closures.

Answer: C

egmat · Answer

First, let's understand what the argument is actually doing: 
The argument takes evidence from  the East  (restaurants closed there) and predicts that  the same thing will happen elsewhere .

Why B Doesn't Work: 
Here's the  trap  with B - read the passage again:

"vegetarianism is gaining popularity  worldwide "

The passage  already tells us  vegetarianism is growing globally! B essentially restates what's already given as a premise. You cannot "assume" something that's already stated as fact in the passage.

The Key Insight You're Missing: 
 We're NOT supposed to figure out if vegetarianism is actually high everywhere - THAT'S ALREADY STATED.

We ARE supposed to figure out: WHAT MAKES A RESTAURANT CLOSE when vegetarianism is high? 
 
That's the link we need to protect!

Why C is Necessary: 
Your question was:  "Do we know that conditions are the cause for people to convert?"

But C isn't about what causes vegetarianism. C is about what causes  RESTAURANT CLOSURES .

Think about it this way:
- Even if vegetarianism grows everywhere...
- In a culture where business lunches  must  happen at restaurants → restaurants adapt, they don't close
- In an economy where restaurants have savings/support → they survive the downturn

The argument assumes: Same trend + Same conditions = Same outcome (closures)

Without similar conditions, high vegetarianism does NOT guarantee restaurant closures.

The Negation Test:

Negate C: "Conditions are  NOT  similar worldwide"
→ Then maybe restaurants elsewhere can adapt differently, or people's eating-out habits differ
→ Restaurants might  NOT  close even with rising vegetarianism
→ Conclusion falls apart ✓

Your Mistake (and how to avoid it): 
You were trying to verify whether vegetarianism is actually rising everywhere (picking B to ensure the survey is representative). But  that's already given to us as true .
Your job isn't to question the premise - it's to find what connects the premise (vegetarianism rising) to the conclusion (restaurants closing).

Answer: C

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any follow-up questions.

The result of a survey showed that vegetarianism is gaining popularity

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