Braille is a method of producing text by means of raised dots that can be read by touch. A recent development in tech...

shunhe on July 20, 2020

Hi @Anna2020,

Thanks for the question! So let’s take a look at the argument first. We’re told that Braille is a way of producing text by means of raised dots that can be read by touch. So basically, Braille (which helps blind people read) is normally a bunch of raised bumps on a flat surface, and you run your finger across the surface and feel the bumps and that’s how you read. Then, we’re told about this new tech development. Flat computer screens can now be heated to make patterns that are the same as Braille patterns. And so since the symbols are the same, the argument concludes that people who can read Braille by touching the dots will be able to adapt and read Braille using this heated system.

Now we’re asked for an assumption on which the conclusion depends; in other words, this is a strengthen with necessary premise question. Now let’s take a look at (C), which tells us that people with the tactile ability to discriminate symbols in braille have an ability to discriminate similar patterns on a flat heated surface. In other words, if you can read braille by touching the dots, you can read braille by feeling the different heat patterns. And we can tell that this is a necessary assumption of the passage. Assume it were false, and that people who could feel the dots couldn’t tell the same patterns on a heated surface. Well, then they wouldn’t be able to read Braille on the new technology, which would completely break the argument! And so (C) is a necessary assumption of the argument, and is the correct answer.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.