What does the author mean by saying that proposals 'assume what they should show'?
Proposals for a period of national service recur whenever people worry about social division. The attractions are clear: young people from different backgrounds would meet and work together, and communities would benefit from their labour. But the proposals tend to assume what they should show, namely that the mixing would produce lasting understanding. Evidence from voluntary schemes suggests that participants do become more tolerant, but those who choose such schemes may have been so inclined to begin with. Compulsion would bring in reluctant participants and could breed resentment. A better plan might be to make service attractive, funded and widely available, and to see who chooses it, before deciding whether compulsion is needed.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. They take it for granted that mixing will produce lasting understanding
- Step 1: The sentence says 'namely that the mixing would produce lasting understanding'.
- Step 2: That is the unproved assumption.
Answer
They take it for granted that mixing will produce lasting understanding.
Why not the others: The assumption is about mixing producing understanding; it is not that young people dislike each other, that communities need labour, that service is voluntary or that people worry about division.
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