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Question
Tourists have long complained that hotel accommodations in Midville are too expensive. Starting last year, the city council, hoping to attract more tourists, lowered the hotel tax rate to 5 percent of room charges. By the end of last year, Midville had taken in no less money from hotel taxes than it did the year before, so an examination of the hotel records will show that more tourists stayed in city hotels last year than the year before.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
Option A:
The tourists who stayed in Midville hotels last year were aware that the hotel tax rate had been lowered.
Option B:
The average price of hotel accommodations in Midville was not significantly higher than in hotels in other cities either last year or the year before.
Option C:
The average length of a tourist’s stay in Midville hotels was not longer last year than it had been the year before.
Option D:
There were significantly more efforts to publicize Midville as a tourist destination last year than there had been the year before.
Option E:
On average, tourists in Midville did not spend significantly more on meals last year than they did on hotels accommodations.
Difficulty Level
EasySolution
Option C is the correct answer.
Option Analysis
Question type: Find the assumption.
Summary of the argument: The argument says that more tourists stayed in the hotel last year than this year because the city managed to collect the same amount of taxes despite the tax rate reducing.
A) It doesn’t matter whether the tourists were aware or not because it still doesn’t explain why the number increased or didn’t.
B) The price of the hotel doesn’t really matter.
C) Correct Answer
D) More efforts don’t translate to more money that the hotels are making.
E) The concern is not about whether they spent more on meals or on accommodation.
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