The state health department anticipates that hospitals will conduct 12,000 heart surgeries next year. However, there are concerns that this many donor hearts will not be available due to a consistent decline in the number of heart-related fatalities from traffic incidents over the last several years. The argument above relies on which of the following assumptions?

Answer Choices

Correct answer marked below

A significant number of the hearts used in surgeries come from individuals who die in traffic incidents.

Correct

The number of traffic incidents will rise significantly in the upcoming year.

No more than 12,000 patients will require heart surgeries next year.

Historically, the state health department's projections for heart surgeries have been quite inaccurate.

For every fatality from a traffic incident, there is a hospital nearby that needs a heart for a surgery.

See the full step-by-step explanation

You can see the correct answer above. Sign in for free to unlock the complete worked solution.

Track your performance and improve

Get detailed analytics, unlock full explanations, and move up difficulty tiers as you practice.

Start for free Sign in

Explanation

Preview

Official Explanation

Official

The argument states that the state health department expects 12,000 heart surgeries next year but doubts the availability of donor hearts due to a decline in traffic-related fatalities. This implies that the availability of donor hearts is linked to the number of…

Read the full explanation

Create free account Sign in

Comments

YuktaFeb 24, 2025

thanksss

ThorApr 25, 2025

This is exactly what I needed to practice

polaJul 24, 2024

thank you for sharing

What this question tests

What it tests

Whether you can identify the unstated assumption a critical-reasoning argument depends on.

Common trap

Picking an option that strengthens the argument or is merely relevant instead of one that is required.