The simple facts are these: the number of people killed each year by grizzly bears is about the same as the number of people killed by lightning on golf courses. And the number of people killed by lightning on golf courses each year is about the same as the number of people electrocuted by electric blenders. All the horrible myths and gruesome stories aside, therefore, a grizzly bear is in fact about as dangerous as an electric blender or a game of golf.
1. Which one of the following is an assumption that the author relies upon in the passage?
(A) Most incidents involving grizzly bears are fatal.
(B) Grizzly bears are no longer the danger they once were.
(C) The number of fatalities per year is an adequate indication of something’s dangerousness.
(D) A golf course is a particularly dangerous place to be in a hunderstorm.
(E) Something is dangerous only if it results in death in the majority of cases.
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2. Which one of the following, if true, would most effectively undermine the author’s argument?
(A) Although the number of people killed by lightning on golf courses each year is very small, the total number of lightning fatalities is many times greater.
(B) Electric blenders are among the safest household appliances; were the author to compare fatalities from electrical appliances in general, she would get a much higher figure.
(C) Most people would rather take their chances with blenders and golf games than with grizzly bears.
(D) Bears in general—including black, brown, and cinnamon bears, as well as grizzly bears—kill many more people than do electric blenders.
(E) Statistics show that the number of times people use electric blenders each year exceeds the number of times people play golf each year, which in turn far exceeds the number of contacts people have with grizzly bears each year