Critical Reasoning

Q116.The average hourly wage of television assemblers in Vernland has long been
significantly lower than that in neighboring Borodia. Since Borodia dropped all
tariffs on Vernlandian televisions three years ago, the number of televisions sold
annually in Borodia has not changed. However, recent statistics show a drop in the
number of television assemblers in Borodia. Therefore, updated trade statistics will
probably indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from
Vernland has increased.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) The number of television assemblers in Vernland has increased by at
least as much as the number of television assemblers in Borodia has
decreased.
(B) Televisions assembled in Vernland have features that televisions
assembled in Borodia do not have.
(C) The average number of hours it takes a Borodian television assembler to
assemble a television has not decreased significantly during the past three
years.
(D) The number of televisions assembled annually in Vernland has
increased significantly during the past three years.
(E) The difference between the hourly wage of television assemblers in
Vernland and the hourly wage of television assemblers in Borodia is likely to
decrease in the next few years.

OA-C

Conclusion: The number of TV's Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased

Key Evidence: - hourly wage lower in Vernland
- # of TV's sold annually in Borodia hasn't changed
- there are fewer TV assemblers in Borodia


We know that the TV's sold in Borodia are either produced domestically or are imported from another country, such as Vernland. We know that, despite ending a tarriff against Vernlandian TV's, the number of total TV's sold in Borodia hasn't changed. This might seem odd at first. If Borodia drops the tariff, the TV's from Vernland would be cheaper, so we'd expect Borodia to import more of them. So then if Borodia is importing more TV's why might its total TV sales remain static? One possibility is that Borodia is, in fact, importing more TV's from Vernland, but because there are fewer TV assemblers in Borodia, domestic production has decreased enough to offset the increase in imports. If Borodia really is producing fewer TV's domestically, then the conclusion - that imports from Vernland have increased - makes perfect sense.

Choice C, when negated, would convey the following:The average number of hours it takes a Borodian television assembler to
assemble a television HAS decreased significantly during the past three years.


If this is true, then there's no reason to assume that domestic production has decreased despite the decrease in the number of TV assemblers. If domestic production hasn't decreased, there's no longer any reason to believe that imports have increased. Because the negation of C undermines the argument, this is the correct answer.

Hi DavidG@VeritasPrep,
Thanks for your explanation.

Just would like to know whether the followings can be considered as POSSIBLE ASSUMPTIONS or not -

1. The number of TV ASSEMBLERS in Borodia has been working for the same amount of time MORE or LESS. The amount of time they work has not increased significantly during the past three years.

2. updated trade statistics will probably indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased -- in this regard,I think,it can be assumed that Vernland will ACTUALLY be able to provide this EXTRA number of TVs to Borodia.

3. There aren't any OTHER SIGNIFICANT factors involved that could affect the INCREASE in IMPORTS from Vernland.

Please let me know your thoughts on the above.

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi DavidG@VeritasPrep,
Thanks for your explanation.

Just would like to know whether the followings can be considered as POSSIBLE ASSUMPTIONS or not -

1. The number of TV ASSEMBLERS in Borodia has been working for the same amount of time MORE or LESS. The amount of time they work has not increased significantly during the past three years.

2. updated trade statistics will probably indicate that the number of televisions Borodia imports annually from Vernland has increased -- in this regard,I think,it can be assumed that Vernland will ACTUALLY be able to provide this EXTRA number of TVs to Borodia.

3. There aren't any OTHER SIGNIFICANT factors involved that could affect the INCREASE in IMPORTS from Vernland.

Please let me know your thoughts on the above.

Those all look like valid assumptions to me.