Identify unstated assumptions
Find the missing step needed for a conclusion, rather than inventing facts about the writer.
Original StudyForA scenarios and formative model answers; no Cambridge marks, predicted grades or certified mastery. Alternative reasoned answers may be valid. Full-length unseen papers, a wider mixed-problem bank and calibrated specialist teacher marking remain outstanding.
Before you begin
- Read an English passage closely
- Distinguish a statement from its supporting reason
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Before evaluating support, what should you identify?
What you will learn
- Identify a required unstated reasoning step
- Use counterexamples or a negation test to assess dependence
Find the gap between reason and conclusion
An unstated assumption is a missing bridge required for the reasoning to work. It is not just any plausible background claim. If a cheaper room is recommended solely because it costs less, the argument assumes that no relevant disadvantage outweighs the saving under the decision’s criteria.
Passage: ‘Room A costs less than B. We should choose A.’ A needed bridge is that A meets the necessary requirements and that price is decisive among eligible choices. A speculation that the writer dislikes B is not part of the logical bridge.
Test dependence carefully
Negate the candidate assumption and ask whether the stated reasoning still supports the conclusion. If A fails required accessibility, the lower price no longer establishes that A should be chosen. The test concerns this argument, not whether another argument could support the same recommendation.
Do not strengthen the assumption beyond what is needed. ‘Price is the only value anyone has’ is far stronger than the relevant decision needs. State a context-specific missing step and explain how it connects the supplied reason to the conclusion.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
Is ‘the writer dislikes B’ necessarily an assumption of the price argument?
Worked example
Identify a required assumption in the cheaper-room recommendation.
Show the worked solution
- The stated reason concerns price only.
- The conclusion concerns the best choice.
- A must meet the requirements for lower price to decide between eligible rooms.
Answer The argument assumes A is suitable for the event, so no unmet requirement defeats its price advantage. Without that bridge, the recommendation does not follow from being cheaper alone.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Guided: Use a counterexample to show why cheaper does not by itself mean suitable.
Give me a hint
Keep the price fact true.
Compare my reasoning
- A can be cheaper.
- A can still have too few seats.
- Both facts can hold while the recommendation fails.
A could cost less but seat only twenty people for a thirty-person event. That preserves the stated price reason while showing why an unstated suitability assumption is needed.
Look for these in your work
- Preserves the stated reason
- Shows the missing bridge
- Uses a relevant requirement
Independent: ‘This site has more visitors, so its advice is more accurate.’ Identify an unstated assumption.
Give me a hint
Popularity and accuracy are different properties.
Compare my reasoning
- The reason measures visitors.
- The conclusion concerns accuracy.
- A link from visitor count to accuracy is required.
The argument assumes that higher visitor numbers reliably indicate more accurate advice in this comparison. That bridge is unsupported: visitors may be drawn by entertainment or advertising rather than accuracy.
Look for these in your work
- Identifies the two properties
- States the missing link
- Explains its vulnerability
Application: ‘The new route is ten minutes faster, so every student will benefit.’ Identify a required assumption and a way to test it.
Give me a hint
The universal claim extends beyond average travel time.
Compare my reasoning
- Every student must be able to use the route.
- No offsetting cost or access disadvantage must defeat the benefit.
- Compare routes and needs across the affected students.
The reasoning assumes the time advantage applies to every student without an offsetting access or cost disadvantage. Checking students’ starting points, accessibility and fares can test that bridge; an average saving alone does not establish universal benefit.
Look for these in your work
- Targets universal scope
- States a required bridge
- Proposes relevant evidence
Common mistakes
- Speculating about the writer’s personality
- Giving an irrelevant possible fact
- Making the assumed claim stronger than necessary
What can you explain now?
Is ‘the writer dislikes B’ necessarily an assumption of the price argument?
Compare with the explanation
No, it is a speculation rather than a required bridge
Identify what the inference needs, not imagined motives.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
Is ‘the writer dislikes B’ necessarily an assumption of the price argument?
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.