Instruction: Identify the assumptions that must hold for the statement to be valid, then choose the correct option. Statement: The rapid advancement in gene editing technologies such as CRISPR offers immense potential for curing genetic disorders, but it also raises concerns about the ethical implications of editing the human genome. Assumptions: I. Gene editing technologies can potentially cure genetic disorders. II. Ethical concerns are a natural consequence of advancing gene editing technologies. III. The potential for gene editing to cure genetic disorders outweighs the ethical concerns.
- (a)Only I and II are implicit
- (b)Only II and III are implicit
- (c)Only I is implicit
- (d)All I, II and III are implicit
Answer
Why
Correct — A.
Rule: an assumption is implicit if the statement cannot stand without it. A verdict the statement never gives is not.
I: the statement credits gene editing with potential for curing genetic disorders, so I must hold.
II: it says the same advancement raises concerns about ethics, so it takes for granted that the technology gives rise to those concerns.
III: but only sets cure and concern side by side, and nothing ranks them → option (a).
Why the others are wrong
- (b)Only II and III are implicit — III is the flaw: the statement never weighs cure against ethics, and 'but' only places them side by side. Dropping I also drops the statement's own claim of curative potential.
- (c)Only I is implicit — II is left out, yet the statement says the advancement itself raises ethical concerns. That link between technology and concern is exactly what II states.
- (d)All I, II and III are implicit — III adds a verdict the statement withholds. Saying the potential outweighs the concerns ranks them, while the statement only lists both.
Concept
In an implicit-assumption item, test each assumption with one question: must this be true for the statement to make sense? A statement that describes a benefit and a worry takes both as real.
What it does not take for granted is a ranking between them. Assumption III needs the statement to have picked a side, and the word but shows only that both exist.
Assumption I restates the statement's first half. The instruction asks what must hold for the statement to be valid, and the statement's own claim must hold, so the key counts it.
II calls the concerns a natural consequence, a slightly stronger phrase than the statement's 'raises concerns'. The statement ties the concerns directly to the advancement, and the key reads II as implicit.
Key facts
- CRISPR, named in the statement, is a gene-editing technology.
- An assumption that ranks two things the statement only lists is not implicit.
- The statement's own claim, curative potential, is what makes assumption I hold.
Study next
Common traps
- Accepting III because curing disease feels more important than ethics, which is your verdict, not the statement's
- Rejecting I because it repeats the statement, when the instruction asks what must hold for it to be valid
The same instruction and 'but' statement appear at 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, Reasoning Q.5 (automation and AI), where the key again takes I and II and rejects a III that calls job displacement temporary.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.