Statement: "If you want timely completion of work, provide independent…
2025
Statement: "If you want timely completion of work, provide independent cabins," - An employee tells the Director of a Company.
Assumptions:
i. There are not enough cabins.
ii. Others' presence hinders timely completion of work.
- A.
Only assumption I is implicit
- B.
Only assumption II is implicit
- C.
Either I or II is implicit
- D.
Both I and II are implicit
Attempted by 41 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: An assumption is something a speaker takes for granted, without stating it, for their suggestion to make sense. Test each candidate with the negation test: assume the opposite is true -- if the speaker's advice still holds up, the assumption is not implicit; if the advice loses its basis, the assumption is implicit.
Application: Apply the test to each assumption in turn:
Assumption I ("there are not enough cabins"): negate it -- suppose independent cabins are already fully available. Then instructing the Director to "provide" such cabins is a pointless instruction, since the verb "provide" itself presumes a current shortfall. Negating the assumption removes the point of the advice, so it survives the test and is implicit.
Assumption II ("others' presence hinders timely completion"): negate it -- suppose sharing a workspace does not slow anyone down at all. Then moving staff into separate cabins would do nothing for timely completion, and the advice would have no basis. Negating this assumption also removes the point of the advice, so it too survives the test and is implicit.
Cross-check: The two assumptions test two separate, independent parts of the advice (the current supply of independent cabins, and the effect of a shared workspace) rather than two mutually exclusive alternatives, so an either/or framing does not fit; both can and do hold together.
Result: Both assumption I and assumption II are implicit in the statement.