0Structure of an argument
An argument has three parts—premises, Assumption and Conclusion.
Premises- These are Evidence, Reasons, Facts or statistics provided by the author to support the conclusion. Premises have to be taken for granted, irrespective of whether they make intuitive sense to you.
Conclusion-This is the author’s point of view or the claim made by the author. This is what needs to be proved or disproved.
Assumption-This is the Unstated part of the argument that is required to link the premises and the conclusion.
Understanding CR questions on the GMAT
Example
Doctor: As established by many research Studies, adolescents who play video games regularly are three times likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome as are adolescents who do not play video games. Therefore, Federal legislation that strictly prohibits the sale of video games to minors would help curb this painful wrist condition among adolescents. One sentence summary:-Try to summarize the main point of the argument in a single sentence.
Example:
Doctor: As established by many research Studies, adolescents who play video games regularly are three times likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome as are adolescents who do not play video games. Therefore, Federal legislation that strictly prohibits the sale of video games to minors would help curb this painful wrist condition among adolescents.
Assumption:
The assumption is an unstated premise.
The assumption will always be a new piece of information.
The assumption must be valid for the conclusion to hold.
A right assumption if negated invalidates the conclusion of the argument.
Everyone who reads this article will be more informed about assumption. Rahul received this article in his email. Hence, Rahul is more knowledgeable about assumption.
