Question

Statement: 'To improve punctuality among staff, the office has installed a biometric attendance system.' Assumptions: I. Staff members were not fully punctual earlier. II. A biometric system can help monitor attendance and timing.

• A. Only assumption I is implicit
• B. Only assumption II is implicit
• C. Both assumptions I and II are implicit
• D. Neither assumption is implicit

Hint:

Try the negation test: negate each assumption and see whether the office's action of installing the system would still make logical sense.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Apply the negation test to each assumption - negate it and check whether the office's stated action (installing a biometric system to improve punctuality) would still make sense. If the action becomes pointless once an assumption is negated, that assumption was implicit.
Step 2: Negate I: suppose staff members were already fully punctual. Then there would be nothing to "improve", and installing a biometric system for this purpose becomes pointless. Since negating I destroys the logic of the statement, I is a valid implicit assumption.
Step 3: Negate II: suppose a biometric system cannot monitor attendance and timing at all. Then installing it to improve punctuality would be a meaningless step, since the tool would be useless for the stated aim. Since negating II also destroys the logic, II is a valid implicit assumption.
Step 4: Both assumptions survive the negation test, so both are implicit.
Correct option: (3) Both assumptions I and II are implicit.