Necessary AssumptionDiff: Medium
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: James told a committee he had his boss's support, but the boss had actually said her support depended on him not changing the plan he showed her.
Conclusion: James's claim that the department chair endorsed his proposal was deceptive.
Reasoning: The chair's endorsement was conditional on the final proposal containing only the recommendations she had previously reviewed in the draft.
Analysis: There is a significant gap between the chair's conditional promise and the conclusion that James was being misleading. For James to be lying, the condition for the endorsement must have been violated. We must assume that the final proposal James submitted actually included recommendations that weren't in the draft the chair saw. If the final version was identical to the draft, the chair's endorsement would have been valid, and James would have been telling the truth.
Conclusion: James's claim that the department chair endorsed his proposal was deceptive.
Reasoning: The chair's endorsement was conditional on the final proposal containing only the recommendations she had previously reviewed in the draft.
Analysis: There is a significant gap between the chair's conditional promise and the conclusion that James was being misleading. For James to be lying, the condition for the endorsement must have been violated. We must assume that the final proposal James submitted actually included recommendations that weren't in the draft the chair saw. If the final version was identical to the draft, the chair's endorsement would have been valid, and James would have been telling the truth.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage15.The argument relies on which one of the following assumptions?
Correct Answer
E
The argument needs the fact that the chair’s condition was not met—i.e., the draft she saw did not include all the recommendations James later proposed. Negation test: if the draft did include all the recommendations, then the endorsement was valid and calling James’s statement “misleading” would fail.
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