{"id":10449,"date":"2012-06-20T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2012-06-20T16:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/?p=10449"},"modified":"2018-04-13T09:51:43","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T16:51:43","slug":"gre-critical-reasoning-question-type-assumption-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/gre-critical-reasoning-question-type-assumption-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"GRE Critical Reasoning Question Type: Assumption Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Assumption questions are relatively common on the GRE Critical Reasoning component<\/a> of the Reading Comprehension section. You know you are dealing with an assumption when the question is something like this:<\/p>\n

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?<\/em><\/p>\n

Much like Strengthen\/Weaken questions, Assumption questions require you to identify the premises and the conclusions. Once you\u2019ve done so, keep in mind that the conclusion cannot be properly drawn without an additional piece of information. This missing information is the assumption. In other words, there is a gap in the argument, and unless it is filled, so to speak, the conclusion is not valid.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the following example:<\/p>\n

Maria studied 3 months for the GRE. Therefore she will score in the top 10%.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this mini-argument, the premise is that Maria studied 3 months. From this a conclusion is drawn: she will score in the top 10%. What is the assumption here? That one only need study for 3 months to score in the top 10%.<\/p>\n

Without this assumption, we cannot draw a valid conclusion. The key to answering an assumption question correctly is to identify what is an assumption, and what is not an assumption.<\/p>\n

Negating the Assumption<\/span><\/p>\n

To do so I am going to introduce a technique called Negating the Assumption. The idea is if you take an answer choice and turn it into its opposite form then the conclusion will fall apart. If you negate an answer choice and it does not do anything to the conclusion, then you know that answer choice is not an assumption the argument depends on. Look at the answers below:<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. Studying for three months automatically means a student will score in the top 10% on the GRE.<\/li>\n
  2. Using prep materials is the only way to score in the top 10%.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Let\u2019s negate both of these answer choices to see what happens.<\/p>\n

    \n
      \n
    1. Studying for three months does\u00a0NOT\u00a0automatically mean a student will score in the top 10%.<\/li>\n
    2. Using prep materials is NOT\u00a0the only way to score in the top 10%.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

      By negating (A), the argument falls apart. If studying for three months does not automatically mean scoring in the top 10%, then the conclusion above that Maria will score in the 10% cannot be validly drawn.<\/p>\n

      By negating (B), we do not affect the conclusion, so we know that answer choice (B) is not an assumption the argument depends on.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Magoosh Practice Question<\/span><\/p>\n

      Now let\u2019s try an actual question from Magoosh. Remember to first identify the premises and conclusion. Next make sure to negate each answer choice. Also, make sure to pick the best answer. Don\u2019t pick an answer because when you negate the assumption the conclusion\u00a0kind of\u00a0falls apart. When you negate the answer choice, the conclusion will\u00a0completely\u00a0fall apart.<\/p>\n

      Coursemetrics, a privately owned on-line education platform, recently offered courses targeted to college students. In order to ensure the validity and effectiveness of the video lessons, Coursemetrics selected notable professors from across the country to evaluate the content of the videos. Since Coursemetrics only made part of its curriculum those videos in which more than 80% of the professors rated as \u201cgood\u201d, the courses will be popular amongst college students in general.<\/em><\/p>\n

      Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?<\/em><\/p>\n

      (A)\u00a0\u00a0A few college students tested the product before it was released to the public and almost all of them rated the product lower than did the college professors.<\/span><\/p>\n

      (B) Coursemetrics initially launched a successful product for high school students learning algebra.<\/p>\n

      (C) Every professor who tested Coursemetrics gave at least one video a rating of “Good”<\/p>\n

      (D) Coursemetrics selected professors from a variety of subjects.<\/p>\n

      (E) The courses offered by Coursemetrics are ones in which college students struggle and seek outside help.<\/p>\n

      Negating the assumption:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      The courses offered by Coursemetrics are ones in which college students do NOT struggle and seek outside help.<\/p>\n

      We can see that once the assumption is negated the paragraph’s conclusion (because college professors rated the program well everybody is going to use it) falls apart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Assumption questions are relatively common on the GRE Critical Reasoning component of the Reading Comprehension section. You know you are dealing with an assumption when the question is something like this: Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends? Much like Strengthen\/Weaken questions, Assumption questions require you to identify the premises […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,99],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[12264],"class_list":["post-10449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verbal","category-verbal-question-types"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGRE Critical Reasoning Question Type: Assumption Questions - Magoosh Blog \u2014 GRE\u00ae Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this post, we\u2019re going to take a look at the basics of assumption questions on the GRE Critical Reasoning and how to solve them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/gre-critical-reasoning-question-type-assumption-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GRE Critical Reasoning Question Type: Assumption Questions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this post, we\u2019re going to take a look at the basics of assumption questions on the GRE Critical Reasoning and how to solve them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/gre-critical-reasoning-question-type-assumption-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2014 GRE\u00ae Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Magoosh\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChrisLeleMagoosh1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-20T16:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-13T16:51:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/files\/2016\/09\/Magoosh-Facebook-Default-Pic.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Lele\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@chrismagoosh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshGRE\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Lele\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/gre-critical-reasoning-question-type-assumption-questions\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/gre-critical-reasoning-question-type-assumption-questions\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Lele\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/#\/schema\/person\/3b6630b4f786513b81a860849cffd546\"},\"headline\":\"GRE Critical Reasoning Question Type: Assumption Questions\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-20T16:00:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/gre-critical-reasoning-question-type-assumption-questions\/\"},\"wordCount\":687,\"commentCount\":43,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"GRE Verbal\",\"GRE Verbal Question Types\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/gre-critical-reasoning-question-type-assumption-questions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/gre-critical-reasoning-question-type-assumption-questions\/\",\"name\":\"GRE Critical Reasoning Question Type: Assumption Questions - 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He's been quoted as a subject expert in many publications, including<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/education\/best-colleges\/slideshows\/10-test-prep-tips-for-sat-and-act-takers\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> US News<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mba.com\/exams-and-exam-prep\/gmat-exam\/why-take-the-gmat-in-2021-when-many-schools-are-test-optional\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> GMAC<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessbecause.com\/news\/gmat\/3263\/mba-admissions-gre-challenges-gmat\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Business Because<\/a>.\r\n"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10449"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=10449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}