“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to…
The correct choice is: “Both Statement 1 and Statement 2” The argument runs: war is of vital importance to the State because it is a matter of life and death, a road to…
Choose your answer
“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”
Which of the following assumptions is made in the text above?
Statement 1: Matters of life and death should not be neglected.
Statement 2: Matters of life and death are of vital importance to the State.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer C
The correct choice is: “Both Statement 1 and Statement 2”
The argument runs: war is of vital importance to the State because it is a matter of life and death, a road to safety or ruin. Hence it must not be neglected.
Statement 1 (“Matters of life and death should not be neglected.”) is the bridge from “war is a matter of life and death” to “war can on no account be neglected”. Without it, the “hence” does not follow, so it is assumed.
Statement 2 (“Matters of life and death are of vital importance to the State.”) is the link between the first two sentences. The author explains why war is vitally important to the State by saying it is a matter of life and death; that explanation works only if matters of life and death are vitally important to the State. So this is assumed too.
Both statements are assumptions.
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AILET UG