The Citizens of Country 777 Pay Very High Prices for Internet Connections.

Question: The citizens of Country 777 pay very high prices for Internet connections. In 777, there is only one company that provides the installation of Internet infrastructures. Therefore, to serve the citizens, the government should encourage the introduction of competing companies in the field of Internet services.

The above conclusion is properly drawn if which of the following is assumed?

1. Citizens of Country 777 use the Internet frequently.
2. The government of 777 is more focused on health problems than on Internet infrastructures.
3. Internet infrastructures are complex and expensive to install.
4. A competitive market encourages companies to reduce prices.
5. There is only one Internet company in 777 because the others were unsuccessful and had to cease operations.

“The citizens of Country 777 pay very high prices for Internet connections.” – is a GMAT Critical question. This particular GMAT Critical Reasoning topic has been taken from the book ‘Manhattan prep GMAT Critical Reasoning 6th Edition’. This is an Assumption question where we need to first break down the argument.. 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. This topic 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: D
Explanation:

This is an Assumption question where we need to first break down the argument. The third sentence includes a conclusion conjunction (therefore) so it's the conclusion. The first two are premises which provide us with hard facts. Let us now check the premices.

Premise 1: The citizens of Country 777 pay very high prices for Internet connections.

Premise 2: In 777, there is only one company that provides the installation of Internet infrastructures.

Now we need to ask ourself: the author thinks that forming new Internet companies will solve the problem of high prices. But what is the missing link? What unfounded connection (assumption) does the author make?

How often the citizens of 777 use the internet is irrelevant, as it does not explain how the author got to the conclusion.

1. Citizens of Country 777 use the Internet frequently.
   Incorrect. This does not have any specific impact on the conclusion. This is hence considered to be irrelevant and out of scope.
2. The government of 777 is more focused on health problems than on Internet infrastructures.
   Incorrect.
   This answer choice states a new situation about the health problems of 777. This is not relevant to the topic of the passage or the conclusion. We are looking for the assumption, which should explain how the author drew the conclusion based on the existing premises. This does not do any such task or does not give any such information. Hence, this is also incorrect.
3. Internet infrastructures are complex and expensive to install.
   Incorrect.
   The cost of Internet infrastructures does not explain how the author got to the conclusion. This option states about the cost and the price of the installation. We are looking for something that states about the lowering of the cost. Hence, this is incorrect.
4. A competitive market encourages companies to reduce prices.
   Correct.
   The author's basic assumption is that the forming of new companies will lead to lower prices for the citizens of 77. Since this negation breaks our conclusion, this is the correct answer. This make relations between high prices and introduction of competing companies, so it is expected that internet prices will decrease.
5. There is only one Internet company in 777 because the others were unsuccessful and had to cease operations.
   Incorrect.
   This option contradicts with argument conclusion, so no need to encourage competing companies. Hence, this is also incorrect.

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