Statement: All State governments have been asked to create awareness about the…
2022
Statement: All State governments have been asked to create awareness about the testing and prevention of widely spread swine flu and also to ensure that there are enough beds and medicines to treat any cases of this contagious disease.
Which of the following can be assumed from the given statement?
(I) H1N1 influenzas (or swine flu) is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of pigs.
(II) Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans.
(III) Even being contagious disease, the treatment of swine flu is possible.
- A.
Only I and II are implicit
- B.
Only III is implicit
- C.
Only I and III are implicit
- D.
All are implicit
- E.
None of the above
Attempted by 3 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept. In a Statement-and-Assumptions problem, an assumption is something the speaker has necessarily taken for granted so that the statement (or the action it asks for) makes sense. Test each candidate with two rules: an assumption must be unstated yet essential to the statement, and it must not merely restate a fact already given nor work against what the statement is trying to achieve. A definition, an outside fact, or anything irrelevant to (or at odds with) the purpose of the action is NOT an implicit assumption.
Application. The statement directs State governments to (a) create awareness about testing and prevention and (b) keep enough beds and medicines to treat any cases. Judge each candidate against the action being asked for:
“Swine flu is a contagious disease of pigs” — this is a textbook definition of the illness, not something the directive must take for granted. The government can order awareness and stockpiling without assuming the biological origin of the virus, so this is information, not an underlying assumption.
“Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans” — the action is about testing, preventing and treating human cases, so the directive is concerned precisely with humans being affected. A belief that the virus does not normally reach humans is not what the action rests on — it pulls against the purpose of the action rather than supporting it — so it is not an implicit assumption here.
“Even though it is contagious, treatment of swine flu is possible” — the directive tells governments to stock beds and medicines so that cases can be treated. Stockpiling to treat is pointless unless treatment can actually work, so the speaker must be taking the treatability of the disease for granted. This is the essential unstated belief behind the action.
Cross-check. Only the treatability candidate survives both rules — it is unstated yet necessary for “ensure beds and medicines to treat any cases” to be a sensible instruction. The pigs-definition is a stated-type fact, and the does-not-normally-infect-humans candidate is irrelevant to (indeed works against) an action aimed at treating human cases. Hence exactly one of the three candidates is implicit.
Result. Only the candidate that treatment of swine flu is possible is an implicit assumption; the other two are not.