#23 - Robert: Speed limits on residential streets in Crownsbury are routinely ignored by drivers.

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Assumption. The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[ronaldofenomeno]

Good afternoon,

Why is 'D' incorrect? If people lose control of their vehicles at speed bumps, they could injure the residents of Crownsbury, right?

Thanks in advance

[Dana D]

Hey Robert,

If Answer Choice (D) were true, yes, that could potentially lead to injury, however that is not what the question is asking. The question wants us to identify what assumption Shelia's response depends on - she says Robert's idea is a bad one, but why? Answer (D) really just restates her argument - following Robert's plan will lead to people potentially getting hurt. But we're still left wondering why she believes that to be true, and the reason she does is because she is assuming that people are still going to drive fast.

If this is true, then her argument makes sense - Robert's plan is bad because people are still going to drive fast, and they can lose control of their vehicles at a speed bump. If this is false, and the speed bumps will actually slow people down, then her argument falls apart completely, because it relies on the assumption that people are going to be driving fast. She could still claim that people who are driving too fast can lose control of their vehicles - but who cares? No one drives fast anymore, because Robert installed speed bumps that made them slow down.

A good check for whether an assumption is necessary or not is to determine that without that assumption, the argument falls apart.