Instruction: Identify the assumptions that must hold for the statement to be valid, then choose the correct option. Statement: While technological advancements in energy production have made renewable sources more cost-competitive, their intermittent nature means that large-scale adoption will require significant investments in energy storage technologies to stabilize the grid. Assumptions: I. Renewable energy sources are not continuous and need energy storage solutions. II. The high cost of renewable energy production makes its adoption difficult without subsidies. III. Energy storage technologies are a necessary component of a stable energy grid with high renewable energy input.

Correct — A.
Rule: an assumption is what the statement takes for granted. A claim that contradicts the statement cannot be implicit.

I: intermittent nature means the supply is not continuous, and the statement calls for storage. Implicit.
III: storage is needed to stabilize the grid once renewables are adopted at scale. Implicit.
II: the statement calls renewables more cost-competitive, the opposite of a high cost. Not implicit.

Only I and III are implicit → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Only II and III are implicit — II and III takes in II, which says renewables are costly. The statement says the opposite: technology has made them more cost-competitive.
• (c)
  Only I is implicit — Only I drops III, yet the statement's point is that storage is needed to stabilize the grid, which is what III assumes.
• (d)
  All assumptions are implicit — All three includes II, which contradicts the statement's more cost-competitive. II also brings in subsidies, which the statement never mentions.

An implicit assumption is a belief the statement depends on without saying it outright. Test each one by negating it: if the assumption were false, would the statement still make sense?

If storage were not needed for a stable grid, calling for storage investment 'to stabilize the grid' would make no sense, so III is implicit. II fails the other way: it clashes with what the statement says.

Key facts

• Intermittent means not continuous: the supply comes and goes.
• The statement ties storage investment to stabilizing the grid.
• The statement calls renewables more cost-competitive, which rules out II.

Common traps

• Accepting II from memory of costly renewables, when the statement says they are now more cost-competitive
• Rejecting I for sitting too close to the statement's wording, when the key counts it implicit

No directly related past PYQ was found.