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Chapter 2: Problem 3

More than a year ago, the city announced that police would crack down on illegally parked cars and that resources would be diverted from writing speeding tickets to ticketing illegally parked cars. But no crackdown has taken place. The police chief claims that resources have had to be diverted from writing speeding tickets to combating the city's staggering drug problem. Yet the police are still writing as many speeding tickets as ever. Therefore, the excuse about resources being tied up in fighting drug-related crime simply is not true. The conclusion in the passage depends on the assumption that (A) every member of the police force is qualified to work on combating the city's drug problem (B) drug-related crime is not as serious a problem for the city as the police chief claims it is (C) writing speeding tickets should be as important a priority for the city as combating drug-related crime (D) the police could be cracking down on illegally parked cars and combating the drug problem without having to reduce writing speeding tickets (E) the police cannot continue writing as many speeding tickets as ever while diverting resources to combating drug-related crime

Short Answer

Expert verified
(E) The police cannot continue writing as many speeding tickets while diverting resources to combating drug-related crime.

Step by step solution

01

Identify the Conclusion

The conclusion of the passage is that the police chief's excuse about resources being tied up in fighting drug-related crime is not true.
02

Understand Why the Conclusion is Drawn

The passage provides evidence that speeding tickets are still being written at the same rate despite the claim of resources being diverted to other priorities, which is used to support the conclusion.
03

Define Necessary Assumption

A necessary assumption is an unstated premise that must be true for the conclusion to hold. This requires looking for something the conclusion says implicitly but doesn't prove outright.
04

Analyze the Options

Evaluate each option: - (A) Talks about police qualifications unrelated to ticket writing. - (B) Questions the seriousness of drug-related crime itself, not resources. - (C) Implies a priority for ticket writing, not resources. - (D) Suggests both tasks can be done without impairing the ticket writing. - (E) Directly relates to resources affecting ticket writing.
05

Choose the Necessary Assumption

Option (E) is the correct choice because it assumes that there would be an effect on the speed ticket output if resources truly had been diverted to combating drug-related crime, which supports the known fact of ticketing not diminishing. Thus, it challenges the truth of the police chief's claim on resources.

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Assumptions Analysis
Analyzing assumptions is an essential skill in understanding arguments. In logic, an assumption is something that is accepted as true without evidence. In the context of the exercise, we need to identify the implicit statements that must hold true for the argument to make sense.

This involves:
  • Identifying what the argument relies on but does not explicitly state.
  • Recognizing the potential gaps between stated facts and the conclusion drawn.
  • Determining how these gaps, if unaddressed, could undermine the argument.
The critical step in assumptions analysis is being able to discern these hidden premises and understanding how they foster the transition from evidence to conclusion.
Argument Evaluation
Evaluating an argument involves assessing its strength and the validity of its reasoning. In the exercise, we have a scenario where certain claims about resource allocation and ticket writing are put forth. Evaluating this involves:
  • Identifying the main conclusion - here, it is the police chief's explanation.
  • Determining if the evidence provided aligns with the conclusion - in this case, whether writing speeding tickets contradicts the claim of resources being diverted.
  • Scrutinizing the logic of the argument - checking if the relationship between evidence and the conclusion is sound and not misleading.
This step requires careful consideration of each statement and whether it logically supports the conclusion, ensuring the argument is both valid and persuasive.
Necessary Assumptions
Necessary assumptions are foundational to the argument's validity. For an argument to uphold its conclusion, there must be certain truths that cannot waver. In the exercise context, the necessary assumption selected was (E) - that resources being diverted would impact the number of speeding tickets written.

Understanding necessary assumptions involves:
  • Identifying which assumptions are indispensable for the argument to remain valid.
  • Recognizing that if these assumptions were not true, the conclusion could collapse.
  • Finding gaps in the argument that these assumptions fill.
Necessary assumptions bridge the gap between evidence and conclusion by being the underlying truths that must exist for the argument to hold firm.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating an argument in a disciplined way. It requires a keen eye for detail and a mind open to questioning. In the exercise, critical thinking pushes us to:
  • Question the police chief's rationale and seek out possible oversights in the reasoning.
  • Think beyond the given evidence, scrutinizing each stated and unstated presumption.
  • Understand the logical flow and recognize any possible fallacies or shortcuts in the reasoning.
By engaging in critical thinking, we equip ourselves to independently assess arguments, identify flaws, and construct well-reasoned solutions that stand up to scrutiny.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

The "suicide wave" that followed the United States stock market crash of October 1929 is more legend than fact. Careful examination of the monthly fugures on the causes of death in 1929 show that the number of suicides in October and in November was comparatively low. In only three other months were the monthly figures lower. During the summer months, when the stock market was flourishing, the number of suicides was substantially higher. Which one of the following, if true, would best challenge the conclusion of the passage? (A) The suicide rate is influenced by many psychological, interpersonal, and socictal factors during any given historical period. (B) October and November have almost always had relatively high suicide rates, even during the 1920 s and 1930 s. (C) The suicide rate in October and November of 1929 was considerably higher than the average for those months during several preceding and following years. (D) During the years surrounding the stock market crash, suicide rates were typically lower at the beginning of any calendar year than toward the end of that year. (E) Because of seasonal differences, the number of suicides in October and November of 1929 would not be expected to be the same as those for other months.

Giselle: The government needs to ensure that the public consumes less petroleum. When things cost more, people buy and use less of them. Therefore, the government should raise the sales tax on gasoline, a major petroleum product. Antoine: The government should not raise the sales tax on gasoline. Such an increase would be unfair to gasoline users. If taxes are to be increased, the increases should be applied in such a way that they spread the burden of providing the government with increased revenues among many people, not just the users of gasoline. As a rebuttal of Giselle's argument, Antoine's response is ineffective because (A) he ignores the fact that Giselle does not base her argument for raising the gasoline sales tax on the government's need for increased revenues (B) he fails to specify how many taxpayers there are who are not gasoline users (C) his conclusion is based on an assertion regarding unfairness, and unfaimess is a very subjective concept (D) he mistakenly assumes that Giselle wants a sales tax increase only on gasoline (E) he makes the implausible assumption that the burden of increasing government revenues can be more evenly distributed among the people through other means besides increasing the gasoline sales tax

Alice: Quotas on automobile imports to the United States should be eliminated. Then domestic producers would have to compete directly with Japanese manufacturers and would be forced to produce higher-quality cars. Such competition would be good for consumers. David: You fail to realize, Alice, that quotas on automobile imports are pervasive worldwide. Since Germany, Britain, and France have quotas, so should the United States. Which one of the following most accurately characterizes David's response to Alice's statement? (A) David falsely accuses Alice of contradicting herself. (B) David unfairly directs his argument against Alice personally. (C) David uncovers a hidden assumption underlying Alice's position. (D) David takes a position that is similar to the one Alice has taken. (E) David fails to address the reasons Alice cites in favor of her conclusion.

Efficiency and redundancy are contradictory characteristics of linguistic systems; however, they can be used together to achieve usefulness and reliability in communication. If a spoken language is completely efficient, then every possible permutation of its basic language sounds can be an understandable word. However, if the human auditory system is an imperfect receptor of sounds, then it is not true that every possible permutation of a spoken language's basic tanguage sounds can be an understandable word. If all of the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true? (A) Efficiency causes a spoken language to be useful and redundancy causes it to be reliable. (B) Neither efficiency nor redundancy can be completely achieved in spoken language. (C) If a spoken language were completely redundant, then it could not be useful. (D) If the human auditory system were a perfect receptor of sounds, then every permutation of language sounds would be an understandable word. (E) If the human auditory system is an imperfect receptor of sounds, then a spoken language cannot be completely efficient.

There is little point in looking to artists for insights into political issues. Most of them hold political views that are less insightful than those of any reasonably welleducated person who is not an artist. Indeed, when taken as a whole, the statements made by artists, including those considered to be great, indicate that artistic talent and political insight are rarely found together. Which one of the following can be inferred from the passage? (A) There are no artists who have insights into political issues. (B) A thorough education in art makes a person reasonably well educated. (C) Every reasonably well-educated person who is not an artist has more insight into political isswes than any artist. (D) Politicians rarely have any artistic talent. (E) Some artists are no less politically insightful than some reasonably well- educated persons who are not artists.
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