gmatnmein2010 wrote:In several cities, the government is going ahead with ambitious construction projects despite the high office vacancy rates in those cities. The vacant offices, though available for leasing, unfortunately do not meet the requirements for the facilities needed, such as court houses and laboratories. The government, therefore, is not guilty of any fiscal wastefulness.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument above depends?

(A) Adaptation of vacant office space to meet the government's requirements, if possible, would not make leasing such office space a more cost-effective alternative to new construction.
Correct : If we negate this statement, the argument falls apart. Hence this is the correct assumption.

(B) The government prefers leasing facilities to owning them in cases where the two alternatives are equally cost-effective.
Incorrect : This will only weaken the argument.

(C) If facilities available for leasing come very close to meeting the government's requirements for facilities the government needs, the government can relax its own requirements slightly and consider those facilities in compliance.
Incorrect : ===== same as above =====

(D) The government's construction projects would not on being completed, add to the stock of facilities available for leasing in the cities concerned.
Incorrect : This cannot be assumed from the above stimulus.

(E) Before embarking on any major construction project, the government is required by law to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that there are no alternatives that are most cost-effective.
Incorrect : This is way too extreme to be considered an assumption.