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According to a recent large-scale survey of people who had purchased new home exercise equipment during the past five years, ten percent of motorized treadmills purchased during that period had required repairs more than once, whereas only two percent of nonmotorized treadmills had ever needed repair. Therefore, people who want to buy a treadmill for regular workouts can rely on having their routine disrupted far less often if they buy a nonmotorized rather than a motorized treadmill.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
| According to a recent large-scale survey of people who had purchased new home exercise equipment during the past five years, ten percent of motorized treadmills purchased during that period had required repairs more than once, whereas only two percent of nonmotorized treadmills had ever needed repair. |
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| Therefore, people who want to buy a treadmill for regular workouts can rely on having their routine disrupted far less often if they buy a nonmotorized rather than a motorized treadmill. |
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The argument starts with survey data showing repair frequencies, then jumps to a conclusion about workout disruptions. The author assumes that repair frequency directly equals disruption frequency.
People who buy nonmotorized treadmills will have their workout routines disrupted far less often than those who buy motorized treadmills.
The argument connects repair statistics to disruption predictions. It assumes that needing repairs automatically means workout disruptions, and that past repair rates predict future disruption rates for regular workout users.
Assumption - We need to find what the argument takes for granted. An assumption is something that must be true for the conclusion to follow from the premises, but isn't explicitly stated.
The argument makes very specific quantitative claims (10% vs 2% repair rates) and connects these repair statistics directly to workout routine disruption frequency. The conclusion assumes a direct relationship between repair needs and routine disruption.
To find assumptions, we need to identify gaps between the premises and conclusion. The argument jumps from 'repair statistics' to 'routine disruption' - what must be true for this connection to work? We'll look for ways the conclusion could fail even if the repair stats are accurate.
'Nonmotorized treadmills provide at least as good a workout for people who use them regularly as motorized treadmills do.' This focuses on workout quality, but the argument is about routine disruption due to repairs, not workout effectiveness. The conclusion assumes that fewer repairs mean fewer disruptions, regardless of workout quality. This isn't an assumption the argument depends on.
'At least as many people in the survey had purchased motorized treadmills as had purchased nonmotorized treadmills.' The argument uses percentages (\(\mathrm{10\% \text{ vs } 2\%}\)), not raw numbers. Whether the survey included \(\mathrm{100 \text{ or } 1000}\) of each type doesn't matter - the percentage comparison remains valid. The argument doesn't depend on sample size equality.
'Motorized treadmills do not generally take longer to repair than nonmotorized treadmills.' This addresses repair duration, but the argument focuses on repair frequency and routine disruption frequency. Even if motorized treadmills took longer to repair, the argument's logic about disruption frequency based on repair frequency would still hold. This isn't necessary for the conclusion.
'People who have bought treadmills are not far more likely to use them regularly over the long term if they are motorized than if they are nonmotorized.' This is the key assumption. The argument takes repair statistics from a general survey and applies them to people who want 'regular workouts.' If motorized treadmill owners used their equipment far more heavily than nonmotorized owners, then higher repair rates might simply reflect heavier usage, not inherent unreliability. For the argument to work, usage patterns must be roughly similar so that repair statistics reflect actual reliability differences relevant to regular workout users.
'People who purchased new treadmills within the past year are not far more likely than people who purchased treadmills five years ago to have purchased motorized treadmills.' This addresses when different types were purchased within the five-year survey period. However, the argument compares repair rates between treadmill types, not across time periods. The timing of purchases within the survey period doesn't affect the validity of the repair rate comparison.