Critical Reasoning

Ecologist: While many consumers are thrilled that gourmet hamburgers cost them as little as $4, they would surely change their tune if they knew the true economic cost of a hamburger, which, through its impact on the environment and its contribution to our skyrocketing national health care costs, actually has a net cost to society of over $200.

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

The $200 cost is actually paid by the consumer.

If the actual cost of a hamburger to society were only $4, its purchase would be nutritionally and economically justified.

Consumers care about the costs that their decisions impose on society.

Hamburgers could be produced at a cost to society less than $200.

No hamburger costs less than $4.

The answer is C because the argument assumes that the consumers will change their tune if they knew the net cost. This is based on the assumption that they actually care.