How to Solve Statement and Assumptions Problems in Reasoning Section ? - Lesson 1

In these type of problems they will give you a statement and two assumptions (numbered I and II) followed by five options. An assumption is something supposed or taken for granted. You have to consider the given statement and the assumptions and then have to decide which of the given assumptions is implicit in the given statement. You have to pick the correct answer according to it.

What is a Statement ?

We can simply say that a Statement is nothing but something that is stated. Something you say or write in a formal or official way is called a statement.

What is assumption?

We can simply say that an An assumption is  something which is assumed / supposed / taken for granted from the statement. When you read a statement, you may not get everything you need from the given statement. There is a lot which they leave unsaid. In many of the times you assume things on your own, based on the given statement. Assume that you are watching your favorite hero's movie. The villain of the movie is doing so many nasty things, tortures hero's family... Now hero comes into the scene. Now you say "Aagaya mera Hero, now he will kill everybody in the villain's den!!!". Now, in this statement of yours, you co-relate two facts.

Fact One : Hero is a supernatural being (according to the filmy law)

Fact Two : Villain should be defeated

How do you relate these two ? Obviously by assuming that "being a protagonist of an Indian film, our hero should win ;) (no matter how strong the villain may be) Well, this is called assumption...

Now lets have a look at some key points you should keep in mind while dealing with the statements and assumptions problems :

1. Keywords : While evaluating an assumption you can always take a clue from some words that lend a definite meaning to the statement. Words like "all", "only", "every" etc are definitive in nature whereas words like "some", "a few", "many" etc are not. Therefore you should be able to differentiate between the implications of "All efforts are being taken" and "Some efforts are being taken". Have a look at an example.
• Increasing rape cases are damaging the clean image of India. The Indian Govt. should make every effort to kill the accused.
• Assumptions :
1. Killing accused is the best solution to reduce rape cases.
2. Killing accused is reasonably good solution to reduce rape cases.
3. Killing accused is the only solution to reduce rape cases.
4. Killing accused will definitely reduces the rape cases.
5. Killing accused will probably reduces the rape cases.
• Explanation : In the above example, statements 2 and 5 are valid assumptions while 1, 3 and 4 use definitive words such as "best", "only" and "definitely". The statement in the question mentions a fact that the rape cases are damaging the clean image of the country and it also makes a suggestion that accused should be punished. Undoubtedly, the author of the advice is assuming that killing accused will help reducing the rape cases. But, there is no hint whatsoever that killing is the only solution or the best solution or a definitely effective solution. 
• The above example illustrates how the use of definitive words may lend a different 'tone' to a sentence and how one should be careful about them.
• Note :  10 out of 10 people will choose options 1, 4 and 5 to the above example. Because we strongly believe that its the only correct way to treat those people. But friends,  they are not asking about your personal opinion. You just have to take decisions according to the given statement. This is the reason why, most of us lose marks in this area. So, Don't forget this fact.
2. Existence / Non Existence of the Subject : This category makes a very simple assumption that what is being talked about must be existing. Similarly, if its absence is being talked about, it must not be existing. Lets have a look at an example.
• Example : Love marriages mostly end in divorce.
• Assumptions :
1. Love marriages do take place
2. There are cases of divorce.
3. Adjectives : We know that an adjective is something which denotes a quality of the subject. Naturally then, if an adjective is attached (unconditionally) to any subject, it must be assumed that "the subject does have the quality as denoted by the adjective". Lets have a look at an example,
• Example : His love affair with that girl killed him.
• Valid assumption : He is in love.
4. Cause and Effect : Some statements mention a cause-and-effect relationship. The conjunctions between the clauses are usually "therefore", "as", "hence", "thus" etc. In all such cases it would be a valid assumption to say that "this cause leads to this effect". There may be different versions of the question: some times the cause-effect relationship may be  explicitly stated, sometimes it may be in the form of "because no cause, hence no effect" and sometimes in teh form of "Although cause, yet no effect". Lets have a look at an example,
• Example : 
• Statement : You don't have IBPS Rank. They wont call you for Interview.
• Valid Assumption : They will only call the people who have IBPS Ranks.