GWD 26-10

bluespecter1

Lawmaker: Raising taxes is not the only means of reducing government debt. The government’s stockpile of helium is worth 25 percent more, at current market prices, than the debt accumulated in acquiring and storing it. Therefore, by selling the helium, the government can not only pay off that debt but reduce its overall debt as well.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

A. The government has no current need for helium.

B. Twenty-five percent of the debt the government has accumulated in stockpiling helium is not an insignificant portion of the government’s total debt.

C. It is not in the lawmaker’s interest to advocate raising taxes as a means of reducing government debt.

D. Attempts to sell the government’s helium will not depress the market price of helium by more than 25 percent.

E. The government will not incur any costs in closing its facilities for stockpiling helium.

我感觉到D 和 E都可以。E似乎好些，请诸位大侠发表高见。

falcons

D is the best answer

freesimens

D is better .

passage does not mention anything about :closing its facilities for stockpiling helium

LHL888

Lawmaker: Raising taxes is not the only means of reducing government debt. The government’s stockpile of helium is worth 25 percent more, at current market prices, than the debt accumulated in acquiring and storing it. Therefore, by selling the helium, the government can not only pay off that debt but reduce its overall debt as well.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. The government has no current need for helium.
B. Twenty-five percent of the debt the government has accumulated in stockpiling helium is not an insignificant portion of the government’s total debt.
C. It is not in the lawmaker’s interest to advocate raising taxes as a means of reducing government debt.
D. Attempts to sell the government’s helium will not depress the market price of helium by more than 25 percent.
E. The government will not incur any costs in closing its facilities for stockpiling helium.
我感觉到D 和 E都可以。E似乎好些，请诸位大侠发表高见。

这道题可以这样来做。
把D加个not，也就是说，政府卖掉Helium的话，会打压Helium市场价格超过25％，也就是卖不到好价钱了，政府的收入就少了很多，那么也就不还清债了。－－》对原结论削弱。所以选D。
把E加个not看看，如果政府关闭存储Helium的设备的话，还要引起一些花费，比如花费2毛钱。那么政府要从卖Helium的总收入中来扣除这笔额外的2毛钱花费。结果，对政府的总收入几乎没有什么影响，只是个零头，可以忽略不计。－－》对原结论没有削弱。所以E错。