GMAT Practice Question (One of Hundreds)
The five-car crash on Highway 201 was the most significant event that occurred yesterday. All five local papers published an article on the crash as the lead story in today’s edition, and all of the local TV channels gave the crash at least five minutes of airtime.
On which of the following assumptions does this argument most depend?
Correct Answer: D
There are several assumptions in this argument, including that local papers and TV stations give prominence to stories based on their significance and that five minutes is a significant amount of airtime. Another key assumption is that the argument refers to the most significant local event – otherwise any number of significant events may have occurred in the world but been outside of the scope of the local media. This latter assumption is the one that appears among the answer choices.
- The circulation of the papers has no bearing on the argument.
- The argument is concerned with the most significant event that occurred yesterday. Even if five-car crashes occurred daily, yesterday’s crash could still be the most significant event that day.
- This point suggests that multiple papers may have covered the story because they borrowed it from one source, not because they independently decided it was important. However, even if this were true, the argument would not necessarily fall apart. Thus, this is not an assumption on which the argument depends.
- This is a key assumption. The local media may have covered the crash because it was the most important local event, but there were likely more important events that occurred in the state, country and world. Thus, we have to assume that the speaker is confining his argument to the local area within the purview of the local media.
- This has no bearing on the argument.