In each question below is given a statement followed by three assumptions…
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In each question below is given a statement followed by three assumptions numbered I, II and III. You have to consider the statement and the following assumptions, decide which of the assumptions is implicit in the statement and choose your answer accordingly.
Statement: "Do not lean out of the moving train." - A warning in the railway compartment.
Assumptions:
i. Such warnings will have some effect.
ii. Leaning out of a moving train is dangerous.
iii. It is the duty of railway authorities to take care of passengers' safety.
- A.
Only I and II are implicit
- B.
Only II and III are implicit
- C.
Only II is implicit
- D.
Only I and III are implicit
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
An assumption is implicit only when the statement would lack a rational basis without it — the speaker must be silently taking it for granted for the statement to serve its evident purpose. An idea that only sounds plausible, or reads more into the statement than it strictly requires, is not implicit even if it seems reasonable.
Assumption I (such warnings will have some effect): a notice is displayed for passengers to read, and that action only has a rational basis if the authority takes for granted that at least some readers will be influenced by it. Without that expectation there would be no reason to put the notice up at all, so I is implicit.
Assumption II (leaning out of a moving train is dangerous): the notice specifically forbids this one act, and that prohibition only has a rational basis if leaning out is taken to carry real risk, so II is implicit.
Assumption III (it is the duty of the railway authorities to take care of passengers' safety): the notice only requires that leaning out is worth warning against; it does not need, as a necessary presupposition, a broader claim about the authorities' general safety obligations. The notice makes complete sense even without anyone holding that wider view, so III goes beyond what is implicit here.
Cross-check: remove assumption I or II and the notice becomes purposeless or unmotivated; remove assumption III and the notice is unaffected. So the necessary, implicit assumptions are I and II only.