If we sketch this argument out in bare bones terms, the author concludes that the auto market is not functioning properly as a free market despite advertisements etc. because a free market requires (1) that consumers can easily compare prices and contact sellers and also (2) that consumers can compare prices to real value.
There seem to be at least two assumptions here that jump out at me, both of which could fill in a gap (and these are probably not the only ones _ we’ll keep an open mind when we look at the answer choices):
(1) Consumers can determine the real value of the services.
or
(2) The advertisements somehow do not fulfill the purpose of the free flow of information.
Here the assumption may be particularly difficult to predict, however, because the question is asking for a sufficient assumption (and there are many possibilities) rather than a necessary one (tends to be more limited in possibilities). We know the answer will be a sufficient assumption from the language of the question (the "argument follows logically if which of the following is assumed?").
Now that we’ve given some thought to how the argument works, let’s take a look at the answer choices and see which of them can fill in the gap. We should focus on something that backs up/supports the author's conclusion despite the existence of flyers, etc in the auto industry.
(A) This answer choice has issues within that are out of scope. This argument is concerned about the free flow of information and not what people actually or regularly do.
(B) Is one of the assumptions we predicted above. This fills in the gap well because it provides a reason why the flyers now used are ineffective alone to ensure both of the conditions cited by the author for a free market are met.
(C) While estimates might be relevant if we are worried about repairmen changing the bill after the initial estimate (a real life concern!), this is out of scope and not necessarily logically relevant to this argument’s main concern _ the flow of information.
(D) Is closer to what we are concerned about, but it is subtly out of scope. Again, we are only thinking about whether information is flowing freely _ not about what merchants actually do. This might be more relevant
(E) Completely out of scope. We have no reason to care about regulated or standardized prices. Choosing this answer would itself require several additional assumptions about how regulation affects valuation and information flow for this answer to be remotely relevant.
You don’t necessarily need to be concerned if you did not immediately see the assumption before looking through the answer choices. The key here, though, was to articulate that the assumption would in some way address the issue of why there is not a free flow of information or an effective flow of information despite the flyers and such mentioned in the argument.
I hope this makes this question clear. I'd love to hear thoughts and other questions about this from Atlas forum users
