Logical Reasoning

PT109 · S4 · Q2 Faced with a financial crisis

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Faced with a financial crisis, Upland University’s board of trustees reduced the budget for the university’s computer center from last year’s $4 million to $1.5 million for the coming year.

Conclusion

There is no way that the center can be kept operating for the coming year.

Evidence (since)

The center cannot operate on less than $2.5 million.

The budget has been reduced from last year's $4 million to $1.5 million.

The board cannot divert funds from other programs to the computer center.

Evaluate

We're trying to prove that the center can't be kept operating for this year. Were we given some proving mechanism that allows us to say "thus, can't operate this year"?

Yes. We were told that the center can't operate on less than $2.5 million.

So in order to prove the conclusion, we have to establish that the center has less than $2.5 million.

The evidence tried to establish that by saying that the budget this year is only $1.5 million, and funds can't be diverted from other programs.

But does that guarantee that the center has less than $2.5 million?

What if they saved $1 million from last year? If they were given $4 million the previous year (and only need $2.5 million to operate), maybe they had a surplus that is still in their account.

What if they have a bake sale and raise $1 million?

Goal

We need to be convinced that they have less than $2.5 million, so the correct answer should rule out the possibility that they can supplement the $1.5 million they're budgeted with extra money from some other source.

2.

The conclusion of the argument is properly drawn if which one of the following is assumed?

  1. The computer center did not

    Weakens

    We were looking for the opposite of this. If they still have some money from last year, and they combine it with the $1.5 M they're getting in this year's budget, then they potentially have the $2.5 M they need to operate this year. So this weakens the argument.

    2% picked this

  2. The budgets of other programs

    Unrelated to Goal

    We don't care about any other programs. We just need to prove that the computer center has less than $2.5 M to work with this year. We know they're only receiving $1.5 M from the budget, but the correct answer needs to extinguish the possibility that they get the missing million from elsewhere.

    2% picked this

  3. Correct

    The computer center has no

    Why this is right

    We need to prove that the computer center has less than $2.5 M to work with this year, because that proves that there is no way for the center to be kept operating for the coming year. We know they're only receiving $1.5 M from the budget, but the correct answer needs to extinguish the possibility that they get the missing million from elsewhere. This answer does just that. It says that the budget money is the only source of funds. Thus, the center only has $1.5 M, thus they fall short of the minimum $2.5 M required to operate. So we've proven the conclusion that they can't operate this year.

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

    89% picked this

  4. No funds from any program

    Unrelated to Goal

    We don't care about any other programs. We need to prove that the computer center has less than $2.5 M to work with this year. We know they're only receiving $1.5 M from the budget, but the correct answer needs to extinguish the possibility that they get the missing million from elsewhere.

    7% picked this

  5. The board of trustees at

    Unrelated to Goal

    We don't care about how much the trustees value this program or that program. We have to prove that the computer center has less than $2.5 M to work with this year. We know they're only receiving $1.5 M from the budget, but the correct answer needs to extinguish the possibility that they get the missing million from elsewhere.

    1% picked this

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