Statement and Assumption
What counts as an implicit assumption, the negation test that decides it, and the four quick checks that reject a stated fact, an over-strong claim, an unconnected idea, or a mere hope.
What you will be able to do
- Define an implicit assumption as an unstated idea the statement depends on.
- Apply the negation test: if denying it breaks the statement, it is assumed.
- Reject an option that merely restates the statement or is unconnected to it.
- Reject an option that is stronger or wider than the statement needs.
What is inside this lesson
- 1What an assumption is
- 2The negation test
- 3Four quick rejections
- 4Notices, appeals and instructions
- 5Worked examples
- 6Common mistakes
- 7Quick revision
- 8Practice
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What an assumption is
An assumption is something the speaker takes for granted — not written in the statement, but needed for the statement to make sense or to have any point.
It is not the same as a conclusion (which follows from the statement) or an inference (which may follow). An assumption sits underneath the statement and holds it up.
A typical item gives a statement and two candidate assumptions, I and II, and asks which are 'implicit' — that is, genuinely relied on.
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