GWD question

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GWD question

by jeongethan » Sat Oct 23, 2010 12:28 pm
Exposure to certain chemicals commonly used in elementary schools as cleaners or pesticides causes allergic reactions in some children. Elementary school nurses in Renston report that the proportion of schoolchildren sent to them for treatment of allergic reactions to those chemicals has increased significantly over the past ten years. Therefore, either Renston's schoolchildren have been exposed to greater quantities of the chemicals, or they are more sensitive to them than schoolchildren were ten years ago.

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

A. The number of school nurses employed by Renston's elementary schools has not decreased over the past ten years.
B. Children who are allergic to the chemicals are no more likely than other children to have allergies to other substances.
C. Children who have allergic reactions to the chemicals are not more likely to be sent to a school nurse now than they were ten years ago.
D. The chemicals are not commonly used as cleaners or pesticides in houses and apartment buildings in Renston.
E. Children attending elementary school do not make up a larger proportion of Renston's population now than they did ten years ago.



answer is c
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by Tani » Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:35 pm
C is correct. Try the denial test. If, for example because teachers are more aware of the dangers, children ARE more likely to be sent to the nurse, then there aren't really more allergic children, just more showing up at the nurse's office. By denying the assumption you kill the argument. Therefore the assumption is necessary.
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by anticipation » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:27 pm
Negate the choice C and see that argument falls apart. Easy way to identify the assumption.