Critical Reasoning

Source: Veritas Prep

Pundit: By passing the recent tax bill, the Republicans have likely thrown away their congressional majority in the upcoming election. In polling ever since the bill was passed into law, Republican congressmen have consistently trailed their closest competitors by an average of 8 to 10 percentage points.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the pundit's argument relies?

A. None of the Republican congressmen's closest competitors were in favor of the tax bill.
B. The poll numbers prior to the tax bill's passing were substantially different than those taken after the tax bill passed.
C. The tax bill is no less popular with likely voters than it is with unlikely voters.
D. A higher percentage of likely voters oppose the new tax bill than support it.
E. The tax bill has been the most unpopular piece of legislation passed by the Republicans since the last election.

The OA is B

OPTION A :- INCORRECT
No, the argument's major concern isn't about the republican Congressmen competitors being in favor of the tax bills.

OPTION B :- CORRECT
It is only appropriate to assume that the reason the republicans Congressmen competitors has an average of 8-10 percentage points after the tax bill was passed is because the poll numbers prior to the tax bills passing were substantially different than those taken after the tax bill was passed.

OPTION C :- INCORRECT
The popularity of a tax bill to voters isn't the main concern of the argument, so it can't serve as the assumption to which the argument relies on.

OPTION D :- INCORRECT
There was no form or indication of opposition to the tax bill in the argument.

OPTION E :- INCORRECT
As mentioned earlier in option C, the popularity or unpopularity of the tax bill in the argument isn't in the question.