Sufficient vs Necessary Assumption

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• 2 Likes

  Rachel Yoon Member

  September 2016 173 karma

  When they say 'if assumed', you can take it as a sufficient assumption.
  ex) The conclusion drawn above follows logically 'if' which one of the following is 'assumed'?
  For the necessary assumption, the question includes 'requires assuming', 'relies on assumption', 'depends on assuming', etc.
  ex) Which one of the following is an 'assumption' on which the argument 'depends'?
  
  
  I think you can find more thorough steps on J.Y's explanation
• awyeah26 Alum Member

  September 2016 75 karma

  I think Rachel hit it on the head, but I'll add this as well. You should commit to memory Group I and Group 2 logical indicators, which are discussed in the curriculum. These logical indicators will help you identify whether they're asking you for the sufficient (Group I) or the necessary (Group 2) assumption.
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  September 2016 23929 karma

  @TheWord26 said:
  I think Rachel hit it on the head, but I'll add this as well. You should commit to memory Group I and Group 2 logical indicators, which are discussed in the curriculum. These logical indicators will help you identify whether they're asking you for the sufficient (Group I) or the necessary (Group 2) assumption.
  

  Couldn't have said it better myself
• MrSamIam Inactive ⭐

  September 2016 2086 karma

  Piggybacking off of what @"Rachel Yoon" said:
  Typically, when the question stem is worded in a way that sounds like they are telling you that the assumption is already in the stimulus, they're asking you for a necessary assumption. When worded in a way that sounds like they want you to make the assumption, they're asking for a sufficient assumptions.
  That might sound confusing, so it's best to just go through as many NA/SA questions as possible and see how the question stems are worded.
  Also, "follows logically" is a clear indicator of a SA question - NAs don't guarantee that the conclusion will follow logically.