Lesson: Critical/Logical Reasoning - 17

The Denial Test, Step 1

For this exercise, you're given a passage and two possible answer choices for the author's assumption. Once you've read the passage, perform Step 1 of the Denial Test: Identify the evidence and conclusion.

Passage

These so-called pacifists are either the victims or the propagators of a false logic. They claim that weapons reductions would result in a so-called climate of peace, thereby diminishing the likelihood of conflicts leading to war. But what are the facts? In the past ten years, during which time we have seen increased spending for such defense requirements as state-of-the-art weapons systems and augmented combat personnel, there have been fewer military actions involving our forces than in any previous decade in the twentieth century. Our own installations have not been attacked and our allies have rarely found it necessary to ask for our armed support. In other words, defense readiness is, in the real world, the most efficient peace-making tool.

Which of the following is an assumption underlying the conclusion of the passage above?

1. 1. The increased defense spending of the past ten years has lessened the need for significant military expenditure in future decades.
2. 2. The number of military actions involving our forces would have been greater in the past decade if we had not increased our defense spending.

Countinue