Necessary assumption

(NA)

Stems that ask us to identify a claim that is required in order for the premises to support the conclusion.

Avg. 2.25 per section

“Which one of the following is an assumption that the argument above requires?”

9%
21%
37%
19%
14%

Avg. difficulty: 3.1

Correct answer criteria

  • Something that must be true in order for the argument's conclusion to follow from the premises.

Key tactics

  • Identify the conclusion and the premises
  • Think about why the conclusion doesn't have to be true even if the premises are true
  • Pay attention to new concepts brought up on the conclusion but not mentioned in the stimulus. The argument has to make some kind of assumption about those new ideas
  • Be open-minded; sometimes an argument can have many different necessary assumptions and it's hard to predict what the correct answer will be about
  • If you're uncertain about an answer, apply the negation test. Does the negation of the answer make it impossible for the conclusion to follow logically from the premises? If yes, then this answer is necessary and is correct

Answer choice tips

  • Be careful about extreme answers, since they often go beyond what the argument needs to make sense. Strongly worded answers can be correct, but be careful about them
  • Weak answers (e.g., "Some" "sometimes" "not always") are more likely to be correct than strong answers. When using the negation test, negating a weak statement ("some") always produces a strong statement ("none"), and strong statements are more likely to damage the conclusion

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Logical reasoning question types

Argument part Evaluate Fill in the blank Flaw or descriptive weakening Inference Main conclusion or main point Method of reasoning or descriptive Most strongly supported Must be false Must be true Necessary assumption Parallel flawed method of reasoning Parallel method of reasoning Point at issue: agree Point at issue: disagree Principle PSA - find or complete the application PSA - find the rule Resolve reconcile or explain Strengthen Sufficient assumption Weaken

Reading comprehension question types

Analogy (RC) Application Author’s attitude Author’s perspective Describe approach Describe organization Describe relationship Implied Logical continuation Main point Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Other’s perspective Principle or generalization Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Purpose of paragraph Purpose of passage Stated Structure WSE (RC)

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