Question:hard

Basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization, that operate unconsciously, and that define in a basic 'taken-for-granted' fashion an organization's view of itself and its environment. These assumptions and beliefs are learned responses to a group's problems. They come to be taken for granted because they solve those problems repeatedly and reliably.

What would be the word that can substitute for assumptions in the extract above, WITHOUT changing the extract's meaning?

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The passage says these beliefs are unconscious and simply taken for granted, not reasoned out. Look for a word that means an intuitive feeling, not a conclusion or formal doctrine.
Updated On: Jul 13, 2026
  • hunch
  • conclusion
  • induction
  • doctrine
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
We need a word that can replace "assumptions" in the passage without changing its meaning. The passage's own description of assumptions is the real clue: they operate unconsciously and are taken for granted, not reasoned out.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Match each option against the two properties the passage gives: (1) held unconsciously, and (2) simply taken for granted rather than argued out or formally taught.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
A hunch is a belief or feeling held without conscious analysis, which fits both properties, it is unconscious and taken for granted rather than reasoned.
A conclusion is reached only after conscious reasoning from evidence, which contradicts the passage's description of something unconscious.
An induction is a formal reasoning process moving from specific cases to a general rule, again a conscious and deliberate activity, not an unconscious one.
A doctrine is a formally taught set of beliefs, usually passed on deliberately through instruction, which contradicts the informal, unconscious nature the passage describes.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Since only "hunch" matches an unconscious, taken-for-granted belief, it is the word that best substitutes for "assumptions" here.
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