Critical Reasoning — Assumptions Statement: “A good book, even if costly, gets sold.” Assumptions to evaluate: I. Some books are better (good) than others. II. Most books are costly.

Question

Solve this multiple-choice question and choose the correct option.

Accepted Answer

Introduction / Context:The statement contrasts “good” (quality) with “costly” (price) and asserts that quality drives sales despite high price. For such a claim, the language presupposes the existence of a quality distinction among books, but not any particular proportion of costly books in the market. Given Data / Assumptions: Claim: Good books sell even if expensive. Assumption I: Quality varies; some books are good, others not. Assumption II: Most books are costly. Concept / Approach: Using the category “good book” relies on the concept of comparative quality. The statement makes no claim about how many books are costly; it only says price does not stop sales for good books. Step-by-Step Solution: Assumption I is necessary because the sentence would be vacuous if no distinction in quality existed.Assumption II is unnecessary; the truth of the claim does not depend on the prevalence of costly books. Verification / Alternative check: If I were false, the predicate “good” would be meaningless and the claim collapses. If II were false, the claim can still stand. Why Other Options Are Wrong: II / Either / Neither / Both: These either impose an irrelevant market share condition or ignore the needed quality distinction. Common Pitfalls: Reading a market-wide frequency assumption into a statement about a subset. Final Answer: Only assumption I is implicit

Critical Reasoning — Assumptions Statement: “A good book, even if costly, gets sold.” Assumptions to evaluate: I. Some books are better (good) than others. II. Most books are costly.

More Questions from Statement and Assumption

Discussion & Comments