Newspaper editorial: In an attempt to reduce the crime rate, the governor is getting tough on criminals and making prison conditions harsher. Part of this effort has been to deny inmates the access they formerly had to college-level courses. However, this action is clearly counter to the governor’s ultimate goal, since after being released from prison, inmates who had taken such courses committed far fewer crimes overall than other inmates.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Not being able to take college-level courses while in prison is unlikely to deter anyone from a crime that he or she might otherwise have committed.
(B) Former inmates are no more likely to commit crimes than are members of the general population.
(C) The group of inmates who chose to take college-level courses were not already less likely than other inmates to commit crimes after being released.
(D) Taking high school level courses in prison has less effect on an inmate’s subsequent behavior than taking college-level courses does.
(E) The governor’s ultimate goal actually is to gain popularity by convincing people that something effective is being done about crime.
The argument presents the following premises:
- To reduce the crime rate, the governor is getting tough on criminals and is making prison conditions harsher
- Part of this effort has been to deny inmates the access they formerly had to college-level courses.
Conclusion
This action goes against the governor’s ultimate goal. Why? The inmates who had taken such courses committed far fewer crimes overall than other inmates.
We need to find the assumption on which the argument depends. (An option that strengthens the conclusion)
A- Option A goes against the conclusion of the argument. The argument says that inmates who had taken college-level courses committed fewer crimes compared to other inmates who had not taken college-level courses. Option A negates the conclusion saying it’s not the case. Hence we eliminate option A.
B- The comparison here is between former inmates and the members of the general population. This is an irrelevant comparison.
C) The group of inmates who chose to take college-level courses were not already less likely than other inmates to commit crimes after being released.
If the group of inmates who chose to take college-level courses were not already less likely than other inmates to commit crimes after being released, then the reason for them to not commit crimes after being released is that they took college-level courses. This strengthens our conclusion and therefore is our answer.
D) Here, the comparison is between taking high school level courses and college-level courses and not the probability of committing crimes with/without taking college-level courses.
E) Option E can be clearly eliminated as it says that the intention of the governor was to gain popularity. This is not relevant to the argument at all.