Roland: The Alarming Fact is that 90 Percent of the People in this Country now Report that they know Someone who is Unemployed.

Question: Roland: The alarming fact is that 90 percent of the people in this country now report that they know someone who is unemployed.

Sharon: But a normal, moderate level of unemployment is 5 percent, with 1 out of 20 workers unemployed. So at any given time if a person knows approximately 50 workers, 1 or more will very likely be unemployed.
Sharon's argument relies on the assumption that

(A) normal levels of unemployment are rarely exceeded
(B) unemployment is not normally concentrated in geographically isolated segments of the population
(C) the number of people who each know someone who is unemployed is always higher than 90% of the population
(D) Roland is not consciously distorting the statistics he presents
(E) knowledge that a personal acquaintance is unemployed generates more fear of losing one's job than does knowledge of unemployment statistics

“Roland: The alarming fact is that 90 percent of the people in this country now report that they know someone who is unemployed.”- is a GMAT Critical reasoning question. This particular GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from the book ‘GMAT Critical Reasoning by Manhattan Prep’. In this particular topic, candidates need to choose the option that best suits the passage. GMAT critical reasoning tests the logical and analytical skills of the candidates. Critical reasoning in GMAT requires candidates to find the strengths and weaknesses of the argument, or find the logical flaw in the argument. The GMAT CR section contains 10 -13 GMAT critical reasoning questions out of 36 GMAT verbal questions

Answer: B
Explanation:

GMAT critical reasoning tests the reasoning, logical and analytical thinking abilities of the candidate. The candidate has to deduce the correct option by finding the logically correct argument or by eliminating the irrelevant arguments.

The statement is - Roland: The alarming fact is that 90 percent of the people in this country now report that they know someone who is unemployed.
Sharon: But a normal, moderate level of unemployment is 5 percent, with 1 out of 20 workers unemployed. So at any given time if a person knows approximately 50 workers, 1 or more will very likely be unemployed.
Sharon's argument relies on the assumption that

(A) It makes no difference whether normal levels of unemployment are exceeded rarely or frequently. As long as the current level of unemployment is normal, then Sharon’s argument is valid. Not correct

(B) If unemployment is evenly distributed across the population as critical being concentrated in certain states, cities, and industries, then we’ll have a better time accepting Sharon. If (B) is true, then a person who knows approximately 50 workers -- anywhere within the country -- is probably going to understand a minimum of one unemployed worker, whether or not unemployment levels are moderate.

(C) We are only curious about the very fact that 90 percent NOW report that they know someone who is unemployed. in step with Sharon, this is often no cause for alarm. Sharon’s argument would be identical irrespective of whether (C) is true, so we will eliminate this one.

(D) Sharon’s argument doesn’t rely upon whether Roland is honest. There would be no reason for continuing to the current conversation if Roland were rattling off fake news he saw on Facebook, but Sharon’s logical connection wouldn’t be affected. Not correct.

(E) It tells us nothing that may affect the line Sharon is making. She says we shouldn’t be alarmed because normal unemployment rates explain the seemingly abnormal rates of knowing a nonworker. Fear of losing one's job is totally irrelevant to her argument. Not correct.

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