Critical Reasoning

In the years since the city of London imposed strict air-pollution regulations on local industry, the number of bird species seen in and around London has increased dramatically. Similar air-pollution rules should be imposed in other major cities.
Each of the following is an assumption made in the argument above EXCEPT:
(A) In most major cities, air-pollution problems are caused almost entirely by local industry.
(B) Air-pollution regulations on industry have a significant impact on the quality of the air.
(C) The air-pollution problems of other major cities are basically similar to those once suffered by London.
(D) An increase in the number of bird species in and around a city is desirable.
(E) The increased sightings of bird species in and around London reflect an actual increase in the number of species in the area.

Ans:A

Answer is A.

They can't assume that "air-pollution problems are caused almost entirely by local industry".They will assume that imposing the regulations would help reduce the pollution.

Thanks
raama

thanks raama

Also, be wary of the extreme word "most" in A. Nowhere in the premise does it state that most cities have pollution caused by industry.

One cannot assume "most" major cities from this statement:

Similar air-pollution rules should be imposed in other major cities

thanks , i did miss " most" while working on this problem and got it wrong!

I don't think its A because it clearly says "since the city of London imposed strict air-pollution regulations on local industry". So i would choose between D or E.

IMO E

I go with option E too

Negate the option A , say In most major cities, air-pollution problems are caused somewhat by local industry. In that case the conclusion
"Similar air-pollution rules(applicable to industry) should be imposed in other major cities" gets weakened. This shows that option A is a valid conclusion.

Negate option E. The sightings of bird species,same as before, in and around London reflect an actual increase in the number of species in the area. It has no effect on the conclusion.

What's the OA

I go with Option E