Critical Reasoning

Private industry is trying to attract skilled research
scientists by offering them high salaries. As a result,
most research scientists employed in private industry
now earn 50 percent more than do comparably skilled
research scientists employed by the government. So,
unless government-employed research scientists are
motivated more by a sense of public duty than by their
own interests, the government is likely to lose its most
skilled research scientists to private industry, since none
of these scientistswould have problems finding privatesector
jobs.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which
the argument depends?

(A) Government research scientists are less likely to
receive acknowledgment for their research
contributions than are research scientists in the
private sector.
(B) None of the research scientists currently
employed by the government earns more than
the highest-paid researchers employed in the
private sector.
(C) The government does not employ as many
research scientists who are highly skilled as does
any large company in the private sector which
employs research scientists.
(D) The government does not provide its research
scientists with unusually good working
conditions or fringe benefits that more than
compensate for the lower salaries they receive.
(E) Research scientists employed in the private sector
generally work longer hours than do researchers
employed by the government.

punitkaur wrote:Private industry is trying to attract skilled research
scientists by offering them high salaries. As a result,
most research scientists employed in private industry
now earn 50 percent more than do comparably skilled
research scientists employed by the government. So,
unless government-employed research scientists are
motivated more by a sense of public duty than by their
own interests, the government is likely to lose its most
skilled research scientists to private industry, since none
of these scientistswould have problems finding privatesector
jobs.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which
the argument depends?

(A) Government research scientists are less likely to
receive acknowledgment for their research
contributions than are research scientists in the
private sector.
(B) None of the research scientists currently
employed by the government earns more than
the highest-paid researchers employed in the
private sector.
(C) The government does not employ as many
research scientists who are highly skilled as does
any large company in the private sector which
employs research scientists.
(D) The government does not provide its research
scientists with unusually good working
conditions or fringe benefits that more than
compensate for the lower salaries they receive.
(E) Research scientists employed in the private sector
generally work longer hours than do researchers
employed by the government.

My opinion:

A- is not within the scope of the argument; we don't know whether the government gives its scientists any recognition besides the less pay scientists receive in the government as compared to scientists in the private sector. Maybe the government provide support, but the scientists are not satisfied.

B- extreme word for a necessary assumption question( a red flag that the answer is wrong). The arguments says that most scientists in the private sector earn more, and this means that most government scientists earn less, but not all.

C- If this was true, then why these scientists are hired by the private sector ?

D- CORRECT ANSWER. the assumtion that the government does not give its scientists with equally important working conditions that could, in the ayes of the scientists, compensate them for the less pay they receive.

E- Out of scope. whether research scientists work longer hours than scientists in the government has no bearing on the conclusion. I think this could be an answwer to strengthen/ weaken question.

Fantastic reasoning, Hesham!

Thanks ! The answer is indeed D.

Thanks guys . I hope most of the questions on the test will be as easy as this.