Critical Reasoning — Assumptions Statement: “The office building needs repairing just as urgently as it needs internal as well as external painting.” Which of the following assumptions are implicit in the above statement?

Introduction / Context:
This verbal reasoning problem tests your ability to detect unstated assumptions. The speaker asserts that repairing the office building is as urgent as painting it (inside and outside). We must decide whether the statement depends on claims about employee efficiency or about funding.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• I: Efficiency of people working in the office cannot be improved unless the office building is repaired.
• II: Repairing and painting of the office building require funds.

Concept / Approach:
An assumption is a statement that must be true for the original claim to hold. Use the negation test: if negating an option does not weaken the original statement, that option is not an assumption.

Step-by-Step Solution:
1) The original statement compares urgency between two maintenance activities: repairing and painting. It does not claim anything about productivity or efficiency outcomes.2) Negate I: Suppose employee efficiency can improve even without repairs. The original statement, which merely ranks the urgency of two tasks, still stands. Hence I is not required.3) Consider II: While it is practically true that repairs and painting need money, the speaker’s point about urgency does not hinge on budget details. Even if funds were donated or already allocated, the urgency comparison remains valid.4) Therefore, neither I nor II is a necessary underpinning for the claim that both tasks are equally urgent.

Verification / Alternative check:
If the sentence were rephrased as “allocate money urgently,” funding would become central. But here the focus is pure urgency, not finance or efficiency metrics.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• Only I / Only II / Both / Either: Each introduces extra claims (productivity or finance) not required by an urgency comparison.

Common Pitfalls:
Do not smuggle in typical project-management considerations (budget, productivity) unless the sentence references them. Urgency comparisons are value judgments independent of those specifics.

Final Answer:
Neither I nor II is implicit