Examine the statement and determine which assumptions are logically implied or necessary for the statement to hold true.
Statement: News outlets should report facts objectively to maintain credibility.
Assumption I
Objective reporting enhances a news outlet's credibility.
Assumption II
Some news outlets may lack objectivity.
Assumption III
All news outlets are currently not credible.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer to this question is: Only I and II are implicit.
Assumption I is implicit: The statement directly states that impartial (objective) reporting is necessary to maintain credibility. This means the speaker is assuming that impartial reporting increases or maintains the credibility of the news media. Therefore, it is completely implicit.
Assumption II is implicit: When we advise someone, "You should do this," the underlying assumption is that perhaps not everyone is doing so or that some people may lack it. The advice "fair reporting should be done" in the statement implies that some news media may lack impartiality, which is why this issue has to be raised.
Assumption III is not implicit: The statement states a general principle or advice. From this, we cannot definitively conclude that "all news media are currently unreliable." This is an extreme statement, and it would be logically incorrect to assume all are unreliable without concrete evidence.