Critical reasoning section of GMAT is much complicated and it will not be wrong to claim that the most difficult part of GMAT Verbal reasoning is the Critical Reasoning. Around one-third of the GMAT verbal consist of questions from this genre and by understanding inference and assumption, it becomes easier to answer the questions here.
Inference is a piece of information that can be logically deduced or conclude from a single statement or a combination of two or more statements.
It often appears that inference is about making a wise and reasonable guess. But, GMAT inference is the process to obtain logical consequences based on assumed premises.
Example:
Statement: Everyone who reads this article will be more informed about Inference and Assumption. Rohan read this article.
Inference: Rohan is more informed about Inference and Assumption.
Here, two or more statements are combined to produce the correct answer. In this example, the first statement is the general rule, which applies to the second premise that logically supplied the inference.
Assumption is a process of finding the missing links between the premises to get the conclusion. In GMAT CR, the connection is often hidden or unstated or unclearly stated.
As the connection is hidden anything cannot be logically derived from existing information easily and there are higher chances of making mistakes. Candidate sometimes forgets that they don’t need to assume – rather, they need to derive the answer logically from existing information.
In order to figure out the right answer in assumption-based questions, the candidate must figure out the main thrust of the given argument. The correct answer choice will have to be true for the argument to be logical. Remaining answers choices will be possibly true, but not necessary to prove the validity of the argument.
Example
Statement: Everyone who reads this article will be more informed about Inference and Assumption. Rohan received this article in his email. Hence, Rohan is more informed about Inference and Assumption.
Assumption: Rohan has read every mail that he has received so far.
The statement of the assumption is the missing link that the information provided in the question. Here the 1st and the second statements don’t validate the 3rd one – rather, the assumption does.
In GMAT, inference and assumption questions often confuse the candidates, as they appear similar. The following difference can help them to distinguish:
Inference | Assumption |
---|---|
Checks if the statements above are true | Checks for an assumption on which the argument depends |
Inference is a statement that must be true if the given information is true. | Assumption is a statement that must be true, for which the given information is true |
Inference can always be logically deduced from the given information. | Assumption can never be logically deduced from the given information – it carries something new. |
Inference questions rarely have a conclusion in the passage – inference itself can be the conclusion. | Assumption-based question necessarily has a conclusion. |
As these questions are way too critical than anyone can imagine, candidates need to make some strategies. GMAT Critical Reasoning strategies for inference and assumption questions are mentioned in the next sections.
The following tips can help the test-takers to answer inference questions:
Assumption questions are more difficult compared to the inference questions, so proper practice of GMAT Assumption based practice questions is necessary. To answer the assumption based GMAT critical reasoning questions, the following tips can help:
GMAT critical reasoning: Inference and Assumptions is pretty complex, but proper understanding and thorough practice with the GMAT Verbal practice papers are the keys to answer these questions accurately, that too using less time. Altogether, these GMAT critical reasoning tips will help the candidates to secure a higher score in GMAT.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.
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