Any advice for assumption questions

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• 6 Likes

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  May 2017 edited May 2017 23929 karma

  @rogersalexandra7 said:
  I am having the hardest time with assumption questions required and sufficient alike. I am getting it down to two answers; the right one and the one that everyone picks and I pick the wrong one. Does anyone have any sort of advice on how to handle assumption questions? I reviewed all of my notes and Im still not getting it. Thank you!!!!!!

  In general, for assumption family questions you need to be able to weed through the excess verbiage in the stimulus and identify the argument core with surgical precision, identify the conclusion first then the reasoning and figure out why the premises do not completely substantiate the conclusion (there will always be at least one reason, there has to be). If you're able to pre-phase an answer it'll make it easier for you to identify the correct answer.

  Make sure you have a flawless understanding of sufficiency and necessity. There can't be any hesitation in what you're looking for in an answer.

  For S.A. questions, you are given the conclusion and all the premises (minus one). And you’re asked to supply the missing premise which will make the argument valid. Make sure you know your valid argument forms!

  For N.A. questions, you are given an argument where in order for the conclusion to be valid, there is a necessary assumption not stated in the argument. Without this particular assumption, the argument falls apart. The correct answer when negated will cause the argument to completely fall apart.

  If you're down to two answers, negate both, and whichever one when negated causes the argument to "fall apart," or become impossible, is the correct answer.

  Check out these articles JY wrote a while back. They a very helpful in explaining them succinctly.

  https://7sage.com/how-to-find-the-sufficient-assumption/

  https://7sage.com/approach-necessary-assumption-questions/
• apublicdisplay Alum Member

  May 2017 edited May 2017 696 karma

  Sometimes necessary assumption questions are similar to sufficient assumptions where you have to bridge pieces of the argument together. If you strictly follow the argument, you should be able to notice gaps. In these cases, I try to anticipate the answer before reading the answer choices.

  But often, the necessary assumption is just something that is neglected and must be true. In these cases, since there's a whole range of potential correct answers, I go into the answer choices almost with the same mindset as a must be true question. That is, I have a strong sense of what was stated in the stimulus and I rigorously examine each answer choice to see if it's something that must be true. Making use of the negation test is a second step to use to help you confirm a choice too, and sometimes on difficult questions you can use it from the get-go.
• 1 Like

  rogersalexandra7 Alum Member

  May 2017 213 karma

  you are life savers!!! thank you!!!!