Critical Reasoning: Understanding Assumptions

Premise: a fact or claim offered as support.
Conclusion: the claim the argument is trying to establish.
Assumption: an unstated belief the argument needs in order for the premises to support the conclusion.

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Arguments on the GMAT contain stated reasons (premises) that are used to support a conclusion. Most arguments also rely on unstated ideas — if those ideas were false, the argument would collapse. Those unstated ideas are assumptions, and finding them is a core critical reasoning skill.