Self-study
Conclusion Humanitarian considerations aside, sheer economics dictates that country X should institute, as country Y has done, a nationwide system of air and ground transportation for conveying seriously injured persons to specialized trauma centers. ██████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ███████████ ███████ ███ ███████ █████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ █████ ██████ █████ ██████ ██ █ ███████████ ████████ ██ ███████ ███ █████ ████████ ████████ ███ ███ █████ ████ ██ █████ ████████ █████ █████████████ ███████ ██████████ █████████
Summary
The author concludes that for economic reasons, country X should implement a nationwide system of air/ground transportation to bring seriously injured people to specialized trauma centers.
What makes the author think this?
We know that timely access to the medical care that only these specialized centers can provide can save lots of lives.
The author thinks this fact establishes that the earnings of people whose lives are saved would increase country X’s GNP, and taxes on those earnings would increase government revenues.
Notable Assumptions
Notice that the conclusion asserts that something makes economic sense to do. That invites scrutiny of the economic costs/benefits of the recommendation. So one assumption that might come to mind is that the economic benefits of implementing the air/ground transportation system outweigh the costs of implementing and maintaining the system.
The author also assumes that people whose lives are saved by the specialized care centers will be able to work and earn money.
13.
The argument depends on the ██████████ ████
a
lifetime per-capita income ██ ███████ ███ ████ ██ ███████ █ ██ ██ ██ ██ ███████ █
Not necessary, because the author refers to country Y only to mention that they’ve implemented a transportation system that is similar to the one the author recommends. But the reasoning of the argument isn’t based on the details of what happened in country Y and whether it will have a similar effect in country X. Even if lifetime per-capita income isn’t the same in each country, that doesn’t reveal anything about the potential beneficial impact of a nationwide transportation system in country X.
b
there are no ███████████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███████ █ ██ ███████
Not necessary, because even if there ARE specialized trauma centers in country X right now, the issue is we currently lack a nationwide transportation system that can quickly bring people to those centers. So implementing the system can still lead to economic benefits.
c
the treatment of █████████ ███████ ███████ ██ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██████ ████ █████████ █████████
Not necessary, because even if the treatment of seriously injured persons in trauma centers IS more costly than treatment elsewhere, the economic benefits of lives saved from that specialized treatment can still outweigh the costs of that care. What matters are the costs and benefits of saving lives with the nationwide transportation system, not the cost of one kind of care vs. another kind of care.
d
there would be █ ███ ████████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███████ █ ██ ████ ███████ ████████ ███████ ██████
Necessary, because if this were not true — if there would NOT be a net incrase in employment if more persons survived serious injury — then we have no reason to think that that there would be any additional earnings from people who survive because of the specialized care. Someone who survives, for example, might be in a coma, or otherwise unable to work; that person wouldn’t have earnings that contribute to GNP or that could be taxed.
e
most people seriously ███████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ██ ███████ █ ██ ███ ███ ███████ █████████ ██ ███████████ ██████ ███████
Not necessary, because even if half or more people who are seriously injured in car accidents DO now receive treatment at these specialized trauma centers, there can still be a net INCREASE in lives saved because of a nationwide transportation system to bring people to these centers. The author thinks we can still increase the number of people saved, even if many or even most people who might need specialized care are already going to those centers.