ceilidh.erickson wrote:With FIND ASSUMPTION questions, I recommend the following approach:

1. Try to find the logical gap in the argument before looking at the answer choices. Do this by asking, "taking the premises as true, is there a way for the conclusion not to be true?"

2. When looking through the answer choices, use the Negation Test: because the right answer will be an assumption necessary to uphold the conclusion, the opposite of the right answer should break the conclusion.

Premises:
- the German & French painters had the same style
- the frame is made of wood more often found in Germany than France

Conclusion: the painting is most likely the work of the German.

Logical Gaps:
- what if wood was transported from one region to the other?
- what if the painters themselves traveled from one region to the other?
- what if the painting was shipped elsewhere to be framed?
- just because the wood is rare in France, does that mean we don't have any frames from that region made from that wood?
Assumption: The painting, painter, and frame are all from the same region.

Answer choices: Apply the Negation Test.

(A) The frame was made from wood local to the region where the picture was painted.
If the frame were NOT made from wood local to the region where the picture was painted, then knowing the provenance of the frame would give us no information about where it was painted, and thus who the painter was. The conclusion would fall apart --> this must be the necessary assumption!

(B) Drechen is unlikely to have ever visited the home region of Birelle in France.
If Drechen DID visit France, this still wouldn't negate the idea that German wood in frame indicates a German painting. He could still visit that area, but if he mostly painted in and used frames from Germany, the argument would still hold. (If Birelle had visited Germany and possibly acquired German wood, that would be more relevant). The right answer on an Assumption question must be necessary for the conclusion to hold. This answer might slightly strengthen, but it's not necessary.

(C) Sometimes a painting so resembles others of its era that no expert is able to confidently decide who painted it.
Does this HAVE to be true for the argument to hold? No. We're just trying to ascertain the provenance of this particular painting.

(D) The painter of the picture chose the frame for the picture.
If the painter did NOT choose the frame, would the whole argument fall apart? No - someone else could choose the frame, but as long as the frames tend to come from the same region as the paintings, the chain of logic in the argument holds.

(E) The carving style of the picture frame is not typical of any specific region of Europe.
If the carving style WAS typical of a specific region, would the argument fall apart? No, that would actually strengthen the idea that we know where the frame is coming from. It wouldn't do anything to tell us whether the region of the frame indicates the region of the painting, though.

The correct answer is A.

Does that use of the negation test help?

when an assumption question asks "Which of the following is an assumption that the argument requires?", does the "argument" refer to the complete argument (premise+conclusion) or to the conclusion alone?

ceilidh.erickson wrote:With FIND ASSUMPTION questions, I recommend the following approach:

1. Try to find the logical gap in the argument before looking at the answer choices. Do this by asking, "taking the premises as true, is there a way for the conclusion not to be true?"

2. When looking through the answer choices, use the Negation Test: because the right answer will be an assumption necessary to uphold the conclusion, the opposite of the right answer should break the conclusion.

Premises:
- the German & French painters had the same style
- the frame is made of wood more often found in Germany than France

Conclusion: the painting is most likely the work of the German.

Logical Gaps:
- what if wood was transported from one region to the other?
- what if the painters themselves traveled from one region to the other?
- what if the painting was shipped elsewhere to be framed?
- just because the wood is rare in France, does that mean we don't have any frames from that region made from that wood?
Assumption: The painting, painter, and frame are all from the same region.