Manager: Our new computer network,

Answer choices

1. A

   Irrelevant Comparison5% picked this

   The monetary value of the network equipment would not exceed the cost of having the

   This answer choice introduces an issue about the monetary value of the network equipment, which is not mentioned or implied in the argument. The manager’s cost comparison focuses solely on installation costs versus lost productivity, not on the value of the equipment.

   5%
2. B

   Correct89% picked this

   The monetary value of any productivity lost during a daytime installation would be less than the difference between

   Why this is right

   This choice provides the needed link by comparing the monetary value of the productivity lost with the additional installation cost at night. If we negated this and said that "the money we lose from installing during the day is AT LEAST AS MUCH as the additional cost for nighttime installation", that would weaken the argument, by creating the possibility that we would actually save money with the nighttime installation.

   Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   89%
3. C

   Irrelevant Comparison1% picked this

   A daytime installation would be completed by no larger a crew and would take the crew no more time

   This option compares the efficiency of a daytime versus nighttime crew. However, the argument's concern is not about the duration or the size of the installation crew, but rather about the financial trade-off between installation costs and productivity losses.

   1%
4. D

   Too Strong: most / immediately1% picked this

   Once the network has been installed, most of the company’s employees will be able to use it immediately

   This answer choice addresses the immediate post-installation productivity boost once the network is installed. The argument doesn't make any assumptions about what comes after the installation. It's only about which type of installation is going to save the company money.

   1%
5. E

   Opposite (if anything)3% picked this

   Most of the company’s employees would be able to work productively while a daytime installation

   The word "most" is almost always wrong on Necessary Assumption because it rarely poses a crucial difference whether something is true for 51% of cases vs. only 49%. Similarly, here, it wouldn't matter whether 49% of the employees can work during the installation vs. 51% Plus, given that we know a daytime installation WILL disrupt productivity, if anything this sounds like the opposite of what the author is thinking.

   3%