Hightrail Park, a state park popular amongst weekend hikers, is suffering erosion along its trails. The primary cause are the many hikers, who looking for a quicker route between the switchbacks, cut between trails, thereby trampling undergrowth. Without grass and weeds, the land abutting the trails is more prone to erosion. To combat this problem, state park officials have placed yellow tape on those parts of the trail where erosion is most significant. State park officials expect that the park will not witness any erosion more extreme than what the park is currently witnessing.The argument above depends on which of the following assumptions?A. Hikers who hike between trails tend to hike along a similar route, thereby making erosion more likely in certain areas along the trail.B. Hikers who hike during the week are not as likely to walk on the land between the switchbacks.C. Erosion in the state park can be caused by other factors such as significant rainfall.D. The yellow tape at higher altitudes along the trail, where weather is more severe, will fall apart at the same rate as the yellow tape located at lower altitudes.E. Those parts along the trail that do not qualify as being highly eroded will not in the next five years become more eroded than those parts along the trail that are currently the most eroded.

From the statement, we already know the action taken by the state park official (Placing yellow tapes on parts of the trail with most significant erosion) and the purpose of the action (Abating the erosion). From the options provided;

Option A simply stated the obvious that we already know from the question (hikers being the cause of the erosion because they hike along the trail), but we already know this from the statement.

Option B has no correlation with the aim of reducing the extremely of the erosion and hence its not an option

Option C is assumptive in nature and the scenario here is not based on assumption hence C is not the right answer.

Option D just tells us that the yellow tape would fall off at a faster rate and hence it does not support the argument. What if the yellow tape at higher altitudes falls off or break downs faster than the other? What effect does this have?

Option E is correct. Because the aim of the action is to ensure erosion is not extreme, and not to prevent it, the action taken concentrates on the areas that are eroded by bikers and does not say anything about the areas that are not yet eroded. Hence, this assumption clearly supports the argument.