MCAT Questions: Conclusions and Assumptions

To answer questions that ask you to choose a reasonable conclusion or assumption for an argument, it’s important to understand what it means for a conclusion or assumption to be reasonable in the context of the MCAT.

An implied conclusion is necessarily supported by the evidence but is not explicitly stated. That is, given A, B, and C facts or assertions from the passage, conclusion X must be true. Look for something that HAS to be true given the evidence in the passage. (To check this, see what happens if you say your chosen answer is NOT true. Does it make the argument in the passage fall apart?)

An assumption is an implicit piece of evidence that has to be true in order to build an argument. It is part of the evidence but is not explicitly stated. As with the implied conclusions, you can figure out whether a statement is an assumption by attempting to falsify it. If you falsify an assumption, the entire argument that rests on it will fall apart.

Here’s an (obvious) example of these concepts. I just moved, and while unpacking I couldn’t find my box cutter. I told my mom "Only you and I packed boxes, and *I* didn’t pack the box cutter into a box." The (unstated) conclusion there is that my mom was the one who packed it into a box (useful place for a box cutter, eh?). The assumption, as you might have noticed, is that the box cutter WAS packed into a box, as opposed to riding in the glove compartment or something.

While I’m analyzing arguments, let’s talk about strengthening/weakening again. I could strengthen my argument by supporting either the facts or the assumption implicit in the argument. Examples of this: No one else who helped me move packed any boxes. It is discovered that the box cutter is not in the U-Haul truck. To weaken the argument, again, I can either contradict the facts or attack the assumption. For example: My dad packed two boxes. A grocery bag full of important stuff was packed and carried in the front seat of the car.