QUESTION TEXT: Editorial: The city has chosen a contractor…
QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption
CONCLUSION: 60% of the contractor’s technicians are unqualified.
REASONING: 60% of the contractor’s technicians are not certified by the Heating Technicians Association.
ANALYSIS: This argument is assuming that only those who are certified are qualified.
On necessary assumption questions the flaw is often obvious if you isolate the conclusion and reasoning. There’s usually a difference in terms.
___________
- Pay doesn’t matter. The argument didn’t even mention pay.
Negation: Certified technicians do not receive higher pay than uncertified technicians. - It doesn’t matter if some other contractors are worse. It only matter if some other technicians are better.
Negation: One contractor in Ecuador has 39% of technicians certified. All other contractors in the world have 40% certified. - CORRECT. This exposes the flaw in the argument. The author didn’t make a link between certification and qualification.
Negation: Technicians can be qualified even if they’re not certified. - It doesn’t matter who installed the systems in the past. We’re talking about the current technicians and whether they are qualified.
Negation: The heating system was installed by trained monkeys. - It doesn’t matter if there’s a potential conflict of interest. The question was only talking about whether the technicians are qualified.
Negation: The contractor has no personal ties to city officials.
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