QUESTION TEXT: Having an efficient, attractive subway system makes…
QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption
CONCLUSION: The city should buy new subway cars.
REASONING: It makes economic sense to have a good subway system. The city should always do what makes good economic sense.
ANALYSIS: The author hasn’t shown that the city needs new cars to have an efficient subway system. If we did need them to make the system efficient, then it would make economic sense to buy them.
___________
- This doesn’t tell us whether we need to invest in subway cars to invest in the subway system. Maybe we could build tunnels instead.
- Careful: this doesn’t say “new” subway cars. It says cost-effective subway cars. Maybe we already have those and don’t need more.
- This could just mean that new subway cars are less of a bad investment than buying some other things. It doesn’t actually say that buying them makes good economic sense.
- Great! But does it make good economic sense to buy new subway cars? I can afford lots of inexpensive things that would be really, really stupid to buy. Mmm, imagine what I could do with 2,000 pez dispensers.
- CORRECT. We need the cars to make the system effective. And an effective subway system makes good economic sense. And we should always do things that make good economic sense.
More Resources for Sufficient Assumption Questions
- Conditional Reasoning Article: Learn about conditional statements.
- LR Diagrams Guide: Learn how to draw LR diagrams.
- Intro to Conditional Reasoning: Learn conditional reasoning basics.
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Sufficient Assumption questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers sufficient assumption questions.

Leave a Reply