A recent poll of undergraduate university students demonstrates a clear drop in the number of young people interested in pursuing a medical career. This is an unfortunate commentary on our society as whole since it clearly demonstrates a lack of compassion for fellow human beings in the hearts and minds of the leaders of tomorrow.

The conclusion drawn above relies on which of the following assumptions?
a) that young people with compassion for humanity will pursue medical careers.
b) most university students have not yet decided which career they intend to pursue
c) fewer students intend to attend medical school due to the increasing number of malpractice suits filed each year
d) the answers given in the recent poll also reflect the intentions of university students throughout the world
e) the medical profession is not as appealing as it once was

the answer is A.

I tried to apply swimmer, but got confused if this is strengthen or inference.
-Is the questioned a Strength or inference?
- also why is D incorrect? the stimulus says "our society as a whole" therefoe the argument must represent the students throughout the world?

Whenever a question stem mentions an assumption or presupposition, it is a Strengthen question. We are looking for an unstated premise upon which the author's conclusion is built. We can apply the Assumption Negation Technique by making each answer choice say the opposite of what it originally said. When negated, the correct answer will contradict the conclusion.

The conclusion is that there is a lack of compassion for fellow human beings, and the evidence given is the decrease in young people interested in a medical career.

A) The author's argument is that fewer people interested in medicine = a lack of compassion. This only makes sense if having compassion leads to interest in a medical career. If we negate this answer, it says "young people with compassion for humanity will NOT pursue medical careers," which destroys the compassion/medicine link.

D) "Society as a whole" probably refers to an individual nation, so the aspirations of university students in other countries would be out of the scope of the argument. If we negate this answer, it says "the answers given in the recent poll DO NOT reflect the intentions of university students throughout the world," which has no effect on the conclusion.

Bill