Critical Reasoning

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.

Answer is C

First of all, I've mistaken "Assemblers" by "Assembles" and consequently avoided the right answer.

Takeaways: Read carefully!

# B's TV sale is constant
# of B's assemblers reduced --> B's Imports should be increased

If assemblers didn't work faster than before ---> They should imported some TVs to have constant sales.

[spoiler]A) knowing that V increased it's assemblers by the same # is not making the conclusion airtight.
B)Off the scope
C)That's it!
D)Nothing can infer from it to support conclusion!
E)Change in wages has nothing to do with increase in import![/spoiler]

So, The answer is C

Amir -

Thanks for posting this excellent question. It seems that you have resolved your difficulty with this one on your own and posted some good thoughts for others to follow!!. That small switch in vocabulary that you made certainly would have made this harder to answer.

I have written about this question a couple of times before. Just in case anyone is looking for more of an explanation on how to approach assumption questions using this question as an example I include the links to those discussions.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-average- ... 96451.html

https://www.beatthegmat.com/cr-using-ass ... 03113.html