How do you indentify Assumption?

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atsu4320: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 10; Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:39 am

by atsu4320 » Sat May 01, 2010 9:30 pm

Hi, I have really been struggled to study CR because I have some serious problem in identifying Assumption in a given argument. I think I am fairly good at finding Conclusion and Premises, however when it comes to Assumption, I am just unable to do that. I have read some books and tried some techiques that are mentioned in web or study aid materials, but none has been working so far.

If you have any suggestion or reccomendation, please share your input with me.

Thanks,

atsu4320

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Sat May 01, 2010 9:30 pm

grockit_andrea: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 357; Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:31 pmFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 128 times

by grockit_andrea » Sun May 02, 2010 4:41 am

Not knowing what GMAT materials you've tried so far, it's hard to recommend other study materials. But for extensive assumption practice and access to a ton of practice questions, you might try looking into LSAT prep materials; identifying the assumption is a significant part of that test, and there are lots of study guides that discuss the process.

Andrea A.
Grockit Tutor
https://www.grockit.com

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atsu4320: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 10; Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:39 am

by atsu4320 » Sun May 02, 2010 7:47 pm

grockit_andrea wrote:Not knowing what GMAT materials you've tried so far, it's hard to recommend other study materials. But for extensive assumption practice and access to a ton of practice questions, you might try looking into LSAT prep materials; identifying the assumption is a significant part of that test, and there are lots of study guides that discuss the process.

Thanks for the advice. Currently I use Prinston Reviews' technique for identifying Assumptions in the CR problems. But I would like to explore more options and find the most comfortable technique using it.

Do you know any technique or strategy specifically for this from your experiance or expertise?

Thanks,

atsu4320

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Testluv: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1302; Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:13 pmFollowed by: 164 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 539 times; GMAT Score:800

by Testluv » Sun May 02, 2010 11:11 pm

Do you know any technique or strategy specifically for this from your experiance or expertise?

Hi,

I am not Andrea, but I can give you some tips for identifying (necessary) assumptions:

--ask what else MUST be true in order for the argument to stand
--if you think an answer choice is an assumption, see what happens to the argument if the assumption is untrue; if the argument can no longer stand, then it is an assumption (this is called the denial test)
--look for ideas in the conclusion that are not in the evidence, and ideas in the evidence that are not in the conclusion; then link them up

Kaplan Teacher in Toronto

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atsu4320: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 10; Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:39 am

by atsu4320 » Mon May 03, 2010 9:57 am

Testluv wrote:
Do you know any technique or strategy specifically for this from your experiance or expertise?

Hi,

I am not Andrea, but I can give you some tips for identifying (necessary) assumptions:

--ask what else MUST be true in order for the argument to stand
--if you think an answer choice is an assumption, see what happens to the argument if the assumption is untrue; if the argument can no longer stand, then it is an assumption (this is called the denial test)
--look for ideas in the conclusion that are not in the evidence, and ideas in the evidence that are not in the conclusion; then link them up

Thank you for your inputs. I will try these techiniques and see if they fit me.

Finding assumption is very hard task for me and even when I was able to pinpoint in a practice question, it usually take an unacceptable time to find it.

Is there anyone else who can share more strategy or technique? Thank you for your advice.

atsu4320

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grockit_andrea: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 357; Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:31 pmFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 128 times

by grockit_andrea » Mon May 03, 2010 11:27 am

atsu4320, here's an article on identifying assumptions; it might be of some help if you'd like to take a look at it.

Here's the link: https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/08/ ... -questions

Andrea A.
Grockit Tutor
https://www.grockit.com

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kevincanspain: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 613; Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:17 amFollowed by: 64 members; Location: madrid; Thanked: 171 times; GMAT Score:790

by kevincanspain » Mon May 03, 2010 12:29 pm

I find that students who have trouble indentifying assumptions fail to break the argument down into its two parts: conclusion and evidence.

Once you have read the argument, look for the conclusion (main point of the argument). The author gives you evidence for a purpose: to convince you that the conclusion is true.

To find the conclusion, note that:

It is often preceded by markers such as: clearly, therefore, argues that, so
It can be followed by expessions such as This is shown by... After all, ... , since

It is a logical way to finish the following sentence: The author is trying to convince me that ...

It is very helpful to summmarize the argument as follows:

Even though it is true that (evidence), I don't necessarily agree that (conclusion): it could be that (objection)

An underlying assumption will always eliminate a valid objection to the argument, so if you are good at finding objections, simply negate an objection and you will have an assumption ! Thus assumptions will often include the words no, little, few, not

The technique that Testluv recommends for testing the answer choices is wonderful!

Kevin Armstrong
GMAT Instructor
Gmatclasses
Madrid

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Testluv: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1302; Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:13 pmFollowed by: 164 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 539 times; GMAT Score:800

by Testluv » Mon May 03, 2010 11:56 pm

And Kevin's tip about negating objections:

An underlying assumption will always eliminate a valid objection to the argument, so if you are good at finding objections, simply negate an objection and you will have an assumption !

is also a fantastic technique for finding assumptions. After comprehending the argument, if you say "hey, but what if x were the case" or "the author is overlooking or failing to consider x", then you've hit on an objection.

Kaplan Teacher in Toronto

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