Over the last few days, I covered in detail how to approach weaken the conclusion, strengthen the conclusion, identify the best conclusion/inference, and identify a parallel argument question types in GMAT critical reasoning. Today, I’d like to review another major CR question type – identify assumption. It’s important to properly identify the question type because the question type will dictate how we analyze the argument. “Identify a parallel argument” questions can be phrased in a variety of different ways.
Common forms of this question are:
- Which of the following is an assumption…
- The argument above is based upon which of the following assumptions?
- …relies on which of the following assumptions?
What to look for
Assumptions link the evidences and the conclusion together. In order to identify the assumption
- Look for choices that can fill in logic gaps or establish credibility for the conclusion to hold true.
- Assumptions also close off alternate paths of reasoning to the conclusion.
Example
The upcoming presidential election in the West African republic of Ganelon is of grave concern to the U.S. State Department. Ganelon presently has strong political and military ties to the United States. However, the Socialist party is widely expected to win the election, leading to fears that Ganelon will soon break away from the pro-American bloc and adopt a nonaligned or openly anti-American stance.
Which of the following is an assumption made in the passage above?
- A Socialist party government in Ganelon is more likely to oppose the United States than is a non-Socialist party government.
- The people of the United States recognize their nation’s interest in the political stability of West Africa.
- A weakening of U.S. political ties with Ganelon could have serious consequences for U.S. relations with other African nations.
- The Socialist party leaders in Ganelon believe that their nation’s interests would best be served by an alliance with anti-American forces.
- The Socialist party will win the upcoming election in Ganelon.
The Diagram
1E Upcoming pres. elec. Important to US
2E Ganelon strong political & military ties to US
3E Socialist party expected to win
4C Fear Ganelon break away from pro US -> anti US
The Explanation
Eliminate E and C. E contains extreme language. C is outside of the scope of the passage. Answer B mentions the US people’s opinion; however this is outside the scope of the conclusion. Answer D is not supported by any information in the passage. The only answer remaining, A, takes the evidence only one step further and links the evidences to the conclusion by stating that a socialist party is more likely to oppose the US than a non socialist party. The answer is A.
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