- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 8950
- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:00 am
#36494
Complete Question Explanation
Assumption. The correct answer choice is (D)
When a transit company sends supervisors to evaluate its bus drivers, the drivers complain that
the supervisor’s presence affects their performance. The author of the stimulus, however, argues
that since all drivers are affected by the presence of a supervisor, those who perform best with a
supervisor aboard will probably be the best performers under normal circumstances as well.
The stimulus is followed by an Assumption question, so the correct answer choice will provide an
assumption upon which the author’s argument depends.
The author appears to assume that since all of the drivers have to deal with the same experience, that
the supervisor’s presence would have the same effect on everyone. The problem, of course, is that
not everyone would necessarily respond to the supervisor’s presence in the same way—some might
be more cautious than normal, driving better because of an awareness of being monitored, while
others might be affected negatively by someone looking over their shoulder, watching their every
move.
Answer choice (A): The author does not assert or even suggest that the direct supervision is the only
effective way of monitoring bus drivers. Rather, the author simply advances the argument that such
supervision should not skew the results when determining the best drivers. To confirm this choice
to be incorrect, we can apply the Assumption Negation technique, by negating the statement and
assessing its effects on the author’s argument—the negated version of the correct answer choice
(Direct supervision is not the only way to monitor bus drivers) does not hurt the author’s argument at
all, so this choice can be eliminated.
Answer choice (B): The author’s comments deal with the issue of whether or not the presence of a
supervisor will throw off the results in determining the best drivers. There is no discussion of how
good a job the supervisors might do, and none of the author’s statements suggest or imply that the
supervisors are “excellent” at supervising.
To confirm that this answer choice should be eliminated, we can apply the Assumption Negation
technique: again, the negated version of the correct answer choice should weaken the author’s
conclusion. The supervisors are not excellent judges of a bus driver’s performance. This negated
version has no effect on the strength of the author’s conclusion—that the presence of a supervisor
should not throw off the determination of the best drivers.
Answer choice (C): The author assumes that the effects of the supervisor will be the same for all
of the drivers but does not specify what type of effect that might be—positive or negative, great or
slight.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. If the author believes that the best
supervised drivers will also be the best unsupervised, the assumption is that the effect of being
supervised will be roughly the same for everyone.
Answer choice (E): Although the stimulus provides that the drivers complain about the presence of
supervisors, no one presents or alludes to the idea that the drivers could effectively assess their own
driving performance.
Assumption. The correct answer choice is (D)
When a transit company sends supervisors to evaluate its bus drivers, the drivers complain that
the supervisor’s presence affects their performance. The author of the stimulus, however, argues
that since all drivers are affected by the presence of a supervisor, those who perform best with a
supervisor aboard will probably be the best performers under normal circumstances as well.
The stimulus is followed by an Assumption question, so the correct answer choice will provide an
assumption upon which the author’s argument depends.
The author appears to assume that since all of the drivers have to deal with the same experience, that
the supervisor’s presence would have the same effect on everyone. The problem, of course, is that
not everyone would necessarily respond to the supervisor’s presence in the same way—some might
be more cautious than normal, driving better because of an awareness of being monitored, while
others might be affected negatively by someone looking over their shoulder, watching their every
move.
Answer choice (A): The author does not assert or even suggest that the direct supervision is the only
effective way of monitoring bus drivers. Rather, the author simply advances the argument that such
supervision should not skew the results when determining the best drivers. To confirm this choice
to be incorrect, we can apply the Assumption Negation technique, by negating the statement and
assessing its effects on the author’s argument—the negated version of the correct answer choice
(Direct supervision is not the only way to monitor bus drivers) does not hurt the author’s argument at
all, so this choice can be eliminated.
Answer choice (B): The author’s comments deal with the issue of whether or not the presence of a
supervisor will throw off the results in determining the best drivers. There is no discussion of how
good a job the supervisors might do, and none of the author’s statements suggest or imply that the
supervisors are “excellent” at supervising.
To confirm that this answer choice should be eliminated, we can apply the Assumption Negation
technique: again, the negated version of the correct answer choice should weaken the author’s
conclusion. The supervisors are not excellent judges of a bus driver’s performance. This negated
version has no effect on the strength of the author’s conclusion—that the presence of a supervisor
should not throw off the determination of the best drivers.
Answer choice (C): The author assumes that the effects of the supervisor will be the same for all
of the drivers but does not specify what type of effect that might be—positive or negative, great or
slight.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. If the author believes that the best
supervised drivers will also be the best unsupervised, the assumption is that the effect of being
supervised will be roughly the same for everyone.
Answer choice (E): Although the stimulus provides that the drivers complain about the presence of
supervisors, no one presents or alludes to the idea that the drivers could effectively assess their own
driving performance.